8 Million Minutes
by 0gden
Summary: Every body leaves. Sometimes they do come back. But forgiveness isn’t that simple. Haley James is about to realise how hard it is to be forgiven as she returns to the lives of the husband and daughter she abandoned 15 years ago. Naley.
1. Prologue

**8 Million Minutes**

**Summary: ** Sometimes people come back. But forgiveness isn't that simple. Haley James is about to realise how hard it is to be forgiven as she returns to the lives of the husband and daughter she abandoned 15 years ago. Naley.

**Note: **Everything that happened on the show up to the episode 'Songs to Love and Die By' season 4, happened in this fic. Except Haleys pregnant with a girl not a boy and Daunte never ran Haley down so he didn't die.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing except the characters you don't recognize.

Songs will always be in italics. 

**Flashbacks will always be in bold italics.**

**Prologue**

The last two days had been the best two days of Nathan Scott's life. He'd graduated high school, his wife Haley had given birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl, and in just an hour, he was able to take his perfect little family home.

In his hand he held a disposable camera he had purchased at the hospital gift shop. The sight in front of him was the most wonderful vision he had ever seen, his wife was sitting up in the bed staring down at the little girl in her arms. Slowly lifting the camera, he quietly snapped a picture of them. Hearing the click Haley grinned up at her Husband. Nathan leaned down and kissed her on the forehead before doing the same to his daughter.

The little girl opened her eyes wide, in the way that only babies can.

"She has your eyes," Haley whispered.

"All babies have blues eyes" Nathan softly replied smiling, knowing full well that it was Haley herself that had originally taught him that.

"You wanna hold her?"

He nodded

Bringing his tiny daughter up into his arms, looking into her shiny blue orbs, one single tear of joy fell, from Nathans own eyes.

* * *

"What about Sarah?" Nathan asked.

"Too common".

"Issabella?"

"Too long."

"Kim?"

"Too short".

"Elisabeth?"

"Too old fashioned"

Nathan groaned and flopped back into lying position on their bed. The couple had been home for two days and the baby was sleeping soundly in the nursery in the room next door. The still unnamed baby, that is. Hayley and Nathan were together in their own bed, still trying to think of names for their daughter and it wasn't going so well. Nothing seemed perfect enough for their baby.

Nathan noticed Haley yawning, "Get some sleep." he said softly stroking her cheek. "We'll think of something tomorrow."

She looked into his eyes, "I love you, Nathan." She said the most seriously he had ever heard her.

"I love you too", He closed his eyes and enveloped his wife tightly in his arms before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

His breathing was steady, as was the rise and fall of his chest. Watching him with the knowledge of what she was about to do broke Haley James Scott's heart into a million pieces. Kissing him for the last time, she left the room and her sleeping husband behind. As she grabbed her packed suitcase and guitar from the coat cupboard where she had hidden them earlier, she heard a small whimper coming from her daughter's room. Setting her things down, she entered the nursery and looked down her tiny sleeping daughter.

Taking the baby in her arms and lovingly cradling her, Haley whispered, "I know that you're probably going to hate me from now on, but I just want you to know that I love you so much and I always will no matter what." Haley put her lips to her daughters scent inhaling her sweet baby smell and for the second time that night her heart broke into another million pieces.

Before she could let herself change her mind Haley set the baby down, collected her bags and without a backward glance disappeared into the dark night.

* * *

Loud crying rang through the apartment causing Nathan to jerk awake. The first thing he noticed was the empty bed, the second was that it was morning. Throwing on a shirt he quickly made his way to his daughter's room, thinking Haley must have heard the crying and already be in there. She wasn't. Puzzled, he picked up his daughter and swayed her in his arms talking to her in baby voices. When she'd settled he carried her with him to go look for Haley.

"Hales?" he called, receiving no answer he started to worry. Then he saw her guitar was gone from it place in the lounge. Panicking he went to the bedroom wardrobe, his fears being confirmed when he saw none of her clothes were there. She was gone.

Refusing with everything in him to break down, he looked down at his baby girl, all that he had left.

"Olivia" he whispered, "Olivia". It wasn't too short or long. Nor was it too common or old fashioned. It fit her perfectly.

As if responding t her name being said for the first time, Olivia opened her eyes, and instead of the baby blue that had been there the day before, their real colour, that she would have forever, showed for the first time. It was a deep brown that only one other person in the world had. Haley.

Holding his tiny daughter in his arms, looking into her now, deep brown orbs, and one single tear of sadness fell, from Nathans own eyes.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_**About 15 Years Later**_

"You know, you kind of look like her", stated Jessica Seddyn to her best friend.

"Like who?" asked Olivia Scott.

"Haley James"

The two 15 year old girls were in Olivia's room. Blaring from the stereo was the voice of the bestselling singer Haley James, their favourite artist. Jessica was glancing between her friend and the album cover with the picture of Haley on the front.

"What?" Laughed Olivia, "We look nothing like each other!"

"Ollie, she could pretty much be you mother".

"Yeah right, Like Dad would've ever gone for her. He like idolises D12, They wouldn't have had very much in common", Ollie said sarcastically, "Besides she doesn't sound very much like the type of person that abandons their kid."

"Well, you still look like her"

"OK Jess, whatever you say", Ollie said rolling her eyes at her friend. "Turn it up a bit".

* * *

Nathan Scott was in his kitchen cooking. Yes cooking, one of the many things he'd had to learn to do as a single father. He heard the music from his daughters bedroom go up in volume until he could make out what was being sung.

_One thing is clear  
I wear a halo, I wear a halo when you look at me  
but standing from here  
you wouldn't say so,  
you wouldn't say so if you were me_

Hearing the sweet voice that he heard nearly everyday but had longed to hear, really hear, for the past 15 years he sank down to the ground a broken sigh escaping his lips. Memories of her still surrounded him. Her honey coloured hair, playful smile, the way only she could make him feel, dancing among the purple flowers at their first wedding, but most of all her eyes. The big, deep, brown eyes, which he could never say no to. The eyes that she shared with their daughter.

Suddenly a loud piercing beeping penetrated his far off thoughts.

"Shit" he muttered as he realised his food was burning. Grabbing for a tea towel he swung it at the smoke alarm abruptly bringing it to a stop. Turning round to the stove he saw a black charcoal mess of what had once been intended for his dinner. He then noticed that he could no longer hear his not-so ex-wife's voice. He turned to see his daughter padding down the hall with a worried look on her face.

"You alright dad?" Ollie asked her father as she entered the kitchen, "I heard the smoke alarm".

"Yeah bud, just got distracted and burnt dinner," he said throwing a smile to his daughter hoping that she couldn't see through his facade.

"OK", she said looking at him sceptically, but figuring it was best not to push it, she walked hesitantly back to her room.

"I'm worried about dad," Ollie blurted to Jessica as she closed her door as she flopped down onto the bed.

"He'll be ok Ollie" she said softly, used to her friend worrying, standing up and giving her friend hug, "I've got to go, I'll see you tomorrow though kay?

"Yep".

As the two girls walked past the kitchen to the door Jessica noticed Nathan staring absently at the microwave and the worried glance that his daughter sent toward him.

"Bye Mr. Scott", Jess called out to him.

"Bye Jess," Nathan turned, smiled and waved to his daughter's best friend.

Approaching the door Jess turned to Ollie,

"Don't worry too much Oll." Jess whispered.

Ollie smiled slightly giving Jess a small wave as the door closed.

As she headed back to her room she noticed that her father was no longer in the kitchen and instead saw his closed bedroom door. Abandoning the idea of trying to get him to talk she sighed and closed her own door before turning her stereo back on.

_I always said that I would make mistakes  
I'm only human and that's my saving grace  
I'll fall as hard as I try  
so don't be blinded  
see me as I really am  
I have flaws and sometimes I'm even sad  
_

_so pull me from that pedestal  
I don't belong there_

Nathan knew his daughter worried about him but he hated that she had that extra weight on her shoulders. No matter how hard he tried to pretend he was fine she always saw him as he really was. The truth was though; every time he looked at her he saw Haley and that hurt like hell. But seeing Ollie happy made him happy. And when he had found out Haley had left, he had vowed to himself to give his daughter a happy life, to give her that, he never told her about her mother. He wasn't going to let Haley James screw up his own or his daughter's happiness ever.

_And I, I just wanna love you  
whoa whoa I, I just wanna love you._

He grabbed his jacket and a basketball, the one thing that his daughter had inherited from him was a passion for basketball.

"Ollie?"He called knocking on her door, "Wanna go to the river court and get dinner at Karen's after?"

The door opened and there she stood with a competitive grin spread across her face.

"Sure your up for it Pops?" She joked raising her eyebrows cheekily.

"Let's go kid." Nathan laughed throwing his arm around her shoulder and heading out toward the river court with a grin on his face.

* * *

"Hello New York! Thank you all for coming out tonight and to all of you who have bought my albums, thanks for making my dream become reality. My name is Haley James and this is my new song Ophelia."

_Woe is me, something dramatic like I could be  
Ophelia  
Love's labour lost, before it began  
I'm not trying to be clever  
I'm just saying what I am  
Ophelia_

Oh, I'm turning over will  
And I'm cleaning up this holy mess I made  
Everything's fine  
Everything's okay  
Everybody loves a fool  
Everybody walks away  
Everybody walks away

Oh, my love  
Oh alas, this has been such a sad affair  


_Such a sad affair  
Well here I go again  
I'm sinking in my faithlessness and fear_

Everything's fine  
Everything's okay  
Everybody loves a fool  
Everybody walks away  
Everybody walks away

Oh, I'm turning over will  
and I'm cleaning up this holy mess I made  
I want to feel your arms around me  
I want to know your love is real  
I want to give you all you've given to me  
But I'm still afraid to leave, to you

Woe is me, something dramatic like I could be  
Ophelia

As Haley James sang, only one thought ran through her head, 'This was never my dream'.

A/N: Songs used were Halo –Bethany Joy Lenz and Ophelia-Bethany Joy Lenz


	3. Chapter 2

Hey, thanks to everyone whos reviewed and been reading so far. Sorry its kind of rough, im pretty new at this. I know that the chapters have been quite short, but once all the stories introductory chapters are finished and it gets into the more dramatic parts I'll try and make the rest of the chapters a bit longer.

Thanks for reading!

**Chapter 2**

Not many 15 year olds in Tree Hill had jobs. But Ollie did, every Saturday and some days after school she worked at Karen's Cafe as a waitress. Today was fairly quiet though so she was in the kitchen just chilling. She thought about last night at the river court and smiled at the memory of thrashing her dad at one on one. Her father still loved basketball, she had seen some of his play tapes from high school, and he had been good. Really good. Yet when it came to playing her he almost always let her win.

"What's got you so far away?" asked her boss Karen smiling warmly at her.

"Oh, it's nothing", she answered returning the smile.

Karen was her Uncle Luke's mom. To Ollie she was more like a surrogate grandmother than a boss. When she'd been young and Nathan had been at college and later at work as a basketball coach Karen had often looked after her. As far as Ollie knew her family had always been close, apart from her grandfather who had died in prison just after she was born, and her own mother. She and her dad were always over at her Uncle Luke's and Aunt Peyton's babysitting their three kids or just hanging out and her dads mom Deb came to Tree Hill for every birthday and holiday without fail. So far as she was concerned no one was missing from her life at all.

"Chicken Panini, table 4", the chef called from the kitchen.

Picking up the order, Ollie headed toward table four. She had a habit of always checking who the people she was waitressing for were, just in case she needed to prepare herself for awkward conversation, or even the possibility of having food thrown at her by a cheeky kid. The person was partially obscured by the booth, she knew it wasn't a child but she couldn't make out who it was, as she moved toward the booth the person turned and looked directly at her.

"Oh My God" she breathed nearly dropping the food she was holding.

* * *

"30 suicides", shouted Nathan to his team, The Tree Hill Ravens, "speed it up."

As Nathan watched his team, the blue banner hanging from the gym ceiling caught his eye, _North Carolina High School Boys Basketball, State Champions, 2004, _it read. At the time that banner was hung, playing basketball in the NBA had been his only dream.

In his first year of junior college, scouts from all the best colleges watched his games, wanted him for their teams. He turned them all down. Everyone was shocked. He knew people were always gossiping about how the hotshot basketball star had turned down the opportunities of a life time. But Nathan didn't care what any of the no-life gossipers were saying. Because his dream had changed when one day he taught his daughter the game he loved. That's when he realised his dream wasn't to play and be the best. It was to teach others to love the game as much as he did.

Noticing the team finishing up their suicides, he called them in.

"Good work to day guys. I think we've got this weeks game." Slapping hands with the boys in his team, they cheered and laughed at the thought of winning, again, before they headed into the locker room. Nathan chuckled and finished packing away the rest of the balls.

Soon he heard the last of the boys leaving and glanced around the silent gym. His jersey as well as his mentor Whitey Durham's still hung on the wall, now accompanied by jerseys from members of more recent teams. Soon he hoped his teams jerseys would join them.

The legacy of the Tree Hill Ravens was still going strong.

He switched off the main light watching the bulbs turn off one at a time in a long wave until he was standing shrouded in the darkness and silence of the place where he became the man he was today.

Smiling slightly, he headed to his car.

* * *

A small private jet was currently flying through the air somewhere between New York and Washington. It was a windy day and as a particularly strong gust hit the side of the jet, Haley James awoke from her slumber. Glancing around at the flash but empty compartment, she realised she must have dozed off. On her lap lay her latest album, _Goodnight Goodbye,_ that had been released just before the tour she was currently on. From L.A. to New York she'd performed 9 concerts in the past two weeks. Now she was on her way to Washington to perform her second to last concert, ever. She was also on the way to Washington to officially announce her departure from the music business. She was saying goodbye. Then after Washington, one final concert, Tree Hill, North Carolina. That is where she was going to end her musical career forever.

In just 2 days she would be home to perform, once more, on the first stage she ever performed on, in front of the first people she ever performed to. She knew that she needed to make up for her mistakes; she just hoped it wouldn't be as hard as she had a feeling it was going to be.

Hearing some one approaching she peered behind her to where the footsteps were coming from.

"Hey Chris" Haley said as he perched down in the chair next to her.

"Ah, I see you've woken up. Been dreaming about the Keller? Chris smirked cockily.

Haley rolled her eyes, "Yeah right Chris. Are we nearly there?"

" 'Bout a half hour away." He had a look of inspiration on his face. With Chris this was never such a good thing, "So, I was thinking that we should have an encore concert in L.A. the day after the Carolina gig. I know its short notice but I've got a venue and with door sales it'll be sold out. Its all set.

"Chris!" Haley seethed exasperatedly, "Look, I've already told you, after we've performed in Tree Hill that is it for me, no more recording, no more albums and no more tours or concerts. I'm done!"

Chris smirked and raised his eyebrows, "Not like I haven't heard that before James, you've said that every tour is going to be your last, yet you keep coming back to the Keller."

"Not this time," Haley muttered as she turned away from Chris and plugged in her iPod, blocking out the sounds of what her life had become.

* * *

"Oh My God" she breathed nearly dropping the food she was holding.

The person at the booth had dark brown hair that hung into his equally dark eyes. He was wearing a grey vintage Radiohead t-shirt over his lanky frame and was looking directly at her grinning ear to ear.

"Ephraim Davis!" Ollie shrieked dumping the tray on the table and flinging her arms around his neck, "Why didn't you tell me you were here?"

"Surprise" Ephraim laughed wrapping his arms around Ollie and returning the hug.

"How's New York? How long are you here? Where are you staying? Is Brooke here? Have you moved back?" Ollie questioned frantically.

"Whoa, slow down there buddy" he chuckled holding her at arms length with his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes.

Ollie let out a breath and sank into the booth next to him. "I missed you Rai".

"Er, not that I didn't miss you too Ollie, but I think you're meant to be serving me my coffee", He joked noticing Karen watching their exchange, as Ollie whacked him on the arm.

She stood up, playfully poked her tongue out at him, turned on her heel and quickly walked back to the kitchen.

"Ollie?" she heard Karen call.

Ollie turned with a guilty look to face Karen, "sorry."

"Oh don't be silly sweetie; you can have the rest of the day off if you want to. It's quiet today anyway."

"Seriously? Thank you so much Karen, you're the best!" Ollie gushed. "I promise I'll make up the hours."

Karen nodded, "Go, have fun" she said nudging Ollie out of the kitchen toward Ephraim's table.

Karen stood behind the bench and watched as the two kids' one with an arm over the others shoulders, both with massive grins on their faces left the cafe.

What really got to her though was how much these two kids were so much like certain two other kids were at their age. And knowing how her own son ended up in that friendship, she couldn't help but feel slightly worried.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The front door of Lucas and Peytons house was wide open so Nathan just wandered right in knowing that he didn't need to knock here.

"Luuuke? Anybody here?" he called peering into the lounge and seeing some suitcases but not finding any one.

Continuing through the house and finding no one he was puzzled as to why the door would be wide open if, like it seemed, nobody was home. He headed down the hall toward the kitchen when suddenly out of nowhere a little shape came hurtling at him.

"Uncle Nathan", the hurtling shape shrieked as Nathan grunted from the impact of his youngest nephew Larry jumping onto his shoulders. Larry, who was named after his maternal grandfather, was the spitting image of his mother, from the springy hair to the tiny frame with her green eyes to top it off.

He hoisted the small boy onto his back. Piggy backing his nephew and chattering to him in 4 year old banter he found his sister-in-law on the deck sketching while keeping an eye on her 6 year old daughter Penny playing in the sandpit. Unlike her brother, Penny, who was named for her godmother Brooke, looked more like the Scott side of the family and while she still possessed her mothers curly hair, it was dark brown and her eyes startlingly blue.

Letting his nephew down he smiled and watched him run over to play with his sister in the sandbox.

"Hey Peyt"

"Hi" she said turning to Nathan who had settled into a deckchair. "What's up?"

"Nothing really, just looking for Luke. He around?"

"Nope he's at his moms."

He nodded. "Oh Yeah, What's with the suitcases in the lounge?" he asked curiously.

"Brooke didn't call you? Ephraim's back."

Nathan grinned, thinking about the boy that he had helped his friend Brooke raise. When Haley left, Nathan couldn't handle Olivia on his own, so her godmother Brooke had moved in with them to help out. Ephraim was 4 when Brooke adopted him and he came to live with them. Even though Brooke and Nathan were never together the four made a bond pretty much like that of an average family. Ephraim and Ollie grew up like brother and sister, but also like best friends.

When Brooke moved out 6 years later to move in with her boyfriend Chase, they didn't see Ephraim as much then and they saw him even less when he and his mom moved to New York with his new step dad. They had kept in contact though.

Even though Ephraim and Nathan couldn't be more different, he had missed the boy, and was thrilled to hear he was back.

"Yeah he showed up last night and crashed on the couch. Brooke rang this morning and explained everything, said she wants him to stay in Tree Hill for school." Peyton told him.

"So he's staying for good? Where's he staying? "

"Well I figured he'd want to move back in with you. He can stay here if you want though."

"You don't mind if he doesn't stay?" Peyton was his godmother and even though Nathan was his godfather, he thought she should get to make the decision.

"Nate, Between having 3 young kids to look after and running Tric, as much as I want to I don't exactly have the time to be looking after a another kid. Especially if its a teenager."

Nathan chuckled, "True, I've got to call Ollie. She's gonna be so excited."

Peyton watched as Nathan pulled out his phone to call his daughter with a genuinely excited smile on his face. She knew things had been hard for him over the past 15 years and she was proud of what her once arrogant jerk high school boyfriend had become. Smiling to her self she sent a motherly glance over to her kids who were still content in the sandbox and then went back to her sketching.

* * *

Ephraim was looking at her like she was insane. Currently she was excitedly shrieking into her phone and jumping up and down like a madman. When the excited noises finally came to an end Ollie snapped her phone shut and turned to face him.

"What?" she said noticing his expression, he looked like he was trying not to laugh.

Ephraim smirked amusedly, "Nothing. Who was that?"

She took a seat next to him on the river court bleachers, "That was dad".

"And?" He prompted, knowing that there was more.

"He said that if you wanted to, since you're staying for school and everything. And you used to live with us so your old rooms still there. Well, he said that if you wanted too, you could move back." The words had come out in a quick blur, with words stumbling over each other as she rushed to get them out .

Not completely sure he had even heard her correctly he asked, "Your dad says I can move in?"

"Yeah." She looked at him hopefully. "Will you?"

"Hmm," he mocked pretending to think about it for a long while noticing her get more and more impatient. "I think I just might."

Then he went back to looking at her like she was insane, because once again she was excitedly jumping up and down like a mad man.

* * *

"You ready for this Haley?"

Haley glanced up to the person who had just spoken, her make up artist Nina, the closest person she'd had to a friend in the last 15 years. Unless you counted Chris of course, and Haley really didn't.

"Yeah Nina. I'm fine with the singing, I'm just kind of nervous I'm telling the world I'm leaving."

"Well, I think that if you really want and believe in something enough then it usually turns out right."

"I really do want this."

"Then you'll be just fine." The make up artist said while applying the finishing touches to Haley's face.

The two women heard a knock on the door to the dressing room. "Haley James on in 5." said a voice from the other side.

"It's time" Haley sighed as she got up and left the changing room flashing a nervous look to Nina, receiving a reassuring one in return before she exited to make her way on stage. To say she was nervous was one thing but even through the nerves she knew that she was making the right decision. She just wished it hadn't taken her so many years to figure it out.

* * *

After spending about ten minutes calming Ollie down, the two teenagers were finally on their way to Peyton and Luke's to meet Nathan.

"So why'd you decide to come back?" Ollie asked figuring this was a good time to ask, considering there was no way for him to avoid her questions.

"I dunno, its just feels like home I guess. I mean Mom and Chase are great but I just missed it here, plus mom wanted me to go to her old school. Now, I've got a question for you." He grinned with a thoughtful look on his face, "Do you still play?

"What kind of questions that? What do you mean do I play? Like Basketball?"

"No." He groaned. "I know that no Scott would ever fully stop playing basketball. That'd be like a sign of the apocalypse or something. I mean do you still play the guitar and sing?

"Ohh, yeah, I guess, not as much as i used to though" she nodded and raised her eyebrows, " Rai, Is that seriously the only question of the last 5 years that you could come up with?"

"No, I did actually have a reason behind it," he said slyly not giving much away.

"Oh really and what would that be?" Ollie asked sarcastically, thinking that he was just trying to make up an excuse, she was surprised when he continued.

"Well, last night I was talking to Peyton and she said that she had a surprise star performer set up for Tric, but the lead singer of the opening band got Laryngitis or something and they bailed. And well I was thinking we could play in the opening for her."

"Ephraim, the last time we played together was in the garage when we were like 10. It's a little different."

"Yeah I know but we both kept up with playing and we have some time to practice. Before you say no can I at least tell you who were opening for? Peyt said we can't tell anyone though because it's one of those surprise performances celebrities do for small town benefits or something."

Curiosity getting the better of her Ollie agreed, "OK tell me."

"OK. We, if you agree, will be opening for, Haley James!"

Not having any idea what she was really getting herself in for Olivia Scott excitedly said two words, "I'm in."


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"How are you not dying?" Ollie groaned to Ephraim slumping onto a chair at the breakfast bar and laying her head on her arms as Ephraim and Nathan both sat wide awake laughing at her. For the past day and a half, not counting the time she was at school, all she had done was practice for the Tric performance.

She flinched when she felt something hot brush against her arm.

"Drink," her dad said softly waving the hot coffee under her nose. The sweet beautiful aroma of caffeine swept into her nostrils. It smelt like heaven. Grabbing it, she sipped it cautiously, so that she didn't burn her tongue.

"You didn't stay up all night practising did you?" He asked when the coffee seemed to have woken her up a bit.

"Well the gig _is_ tomorrow," she defended herself cradling her coffee mug.

"Yeah it is, and I sort of need you to be awake for it," Ephraim joked before abruptly silencing as she shot him a 'shut up or I'm going to throw my coffee at you' look.

"You're gonna come, right dad?" She asked completely blanking Ephraim.

"Yeah course, I still think you should tell me who this mystery performer I though." Crossing his fingers and looking upwards he quietly chanted, "Please be Eminem, please be Eminem".

She groaned and rolled her eyes at her father, "Dad, I can tell you now that it's not going to be Eminem; he retired like before I was born. I don't think he's gonna make a comeback."

"Well if it's not Eminem then who is it?"

"We can't tell you."

He smirked, "Then I guess I'm just going to have to keep thinking it's Eminem."

"As much as I hate to interrupt this incredibly intellectual conversation, we kinda need to get to school." Ephraim added in quickly before they could get started again.

Draining the last of her coffee Ollie stood and grabbed her bag. She the went over and hugged her dad goodbye, just as she was about to end the embrace she leaned over to his ear and whispered,

"Its not going to be Eminem". Before Nathan could get in a word of reply she was already out the door shouting "Bye Dad" as she went.

Ephraim glanced at Nathan and then shaking his head amusedly, followed Ollie out the door.

* * *

Ollie stood staring into her locker not really seeing anything. She'd pointed Ephraim in the direction of the principles office to have his 'welcome to the school talk' and for the last 5 minutes shed been doing exactly what she was currently up to, standing deadly at her locker.

To say that she was tired was an understatement. The last day and a half had been a musical boot camp, all she'd done was practice, eat and as much as she would have like to say slept as well, that would pretty much be lying. Its not that she wasn't excited though. She was opening for one of the worlds biggest music sensations, it was gonna be great.

"So who was that rather delicious new guy I saw you taking to the principles office?"

Ollie looked up, her eyes focussing to see her friend Jess standing next to her.

"What?" Ollie asked, confused, still kind of out of it.

"That boy you were with about 5 minutes ago" Jess prompted.

"Oh", realizing what her friend was on about she said, "Ephraim Davis, you remember him don't you? Used to live with me, you know?"

Jess' expression visibly changed from the one of curiosity just a moment ago, to one of slight disgust. Her and Ephraim hadn't exactly liked each other when they were kids "The one that never stopped banging on the drums, always stuck stuff up his nose and chased you around all the time?"

"Yep that's him" Ollie answered, chuckling a little at the memory of Ephraim as a kid.

"I thought he moved." Jess said hopefully.

"He did, he's back now though, he moved back in with us."Ollie looked at her friend and knew that Jess had a question on her mind, and that it was going to be a strange question. "What?"

Jess knew she probably shouldn't ask but, she was curious. Completely seriously, with her nose scrunched up slightly, she asked, "Do you know if he still puts everything up his nose?"

Ollie burst out laughing looking at her friend as if she'd gone nuts. "Ah, I think you'll have to ask him that yourself Jess."

"Oh, I thought you'd know." Shrugging, Jess changed the topic, not particularly wanting to talk about noses, "ready for the calc test 2nd period?"

Ollie froze, no longer laughing, "You're kidding, right?"

"No, Mr Gibbon told us last week. Remember?" seeing Ollie's panicked look Jess figured that she obviously didn't. "Well don't worry Ollie; you've like never failed a test in your life."

"Yeah" Ollie answered still freaking out trying to remember being told about the test, only being broken out of her reverie by the bell for form room.

* * *

In his office Nathan was trying to focus on game play tapes from the teams last game so that he could work out some strategies and what to work on at practice. However no matter how hard he tried to concentrate, his mind kept wandering to the next night and who it could be that was performing. He could only think of one person that might be able and be willing to tell him.

Picking up his phone he dialled waiting for it to connect.

"Hey big brother" he said into the phone when Luke picked up.

"Hey Nate" Luke answered, "Lemme guess, your ringing about the mystery performer?

Surprised Nathan asked, "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I was just about to ring you about the same thing."

"So you don't know who it is either huh?"

"Nope, Peyt isn't telling me a thing. Have you been able to get anything out of the kids?"

"Not really, all I know is it definitely isn't Eminem." Nathan chuckled.

Luke laughed a little confused, "Right, I'm not even gonna ask."

"Good idea. I guess we have to wait until tomorrow".

"Yep, guess so, I gotta go grade some papers, I'll call you if find out anything. Bye Nate."

"See ya Luke"

Nathan closed his phone. "Dammit," he muttered. He was starting to get incredibly curious and the way it was going it didn't seem like his need to know was going to be fulfilled any time soon.

* * *

In the manager office at Tric, Peyton sat thinking about her telephone conversation with Haley, when the singer had rung to beg for a chance to perform at Tric.

Over the phone Peyton had nearly lost it, only just managing to stay professional, knowing there had been hostility in her voice though. She knew what the consequences of her allowing Haley James to play in the club would be.

Peyton loved her niece and didn't want to see her hurt in anyway and this was going to affect her pretty bad. In fact, Peyton thought it was also a pretty bad idea for Ollie to open the night of Haley's performance, but she couldn't tell her niece she couldn't perform without giving a reason. And there was no decent reason she was able to give.

When Ollie had been just young, Nathan decided to never tell her who her mother was, no matter how much she asked. While Peyton hadn't always agreed with this, she respected his decision still to this day. Sure she hated what Haley had done to her niece and brother in law, but if she'd learnt anything from her relationships with Lucas and Brooke over the years, it was that everyone deserved forgiveness and no matter how much she despised Haley at the moment, Ollie and Nathan needed the chance to forgive.

She just hoped that Haley was ready to fight to be the mother and wife that Nathan and Ollie deserved.

* * *

The night before had been hard for Haley. Emotionally as well a physically she was completely drained. The crowd had not taken her unexpected goodbye well. The crowd was angry and got rowdy, fights broke out. Paparazzi were everywhere. It was horrible, yet in a way it still felt better than the thought of not doing it. Better than not deciding to leave the music world forever.

She was now on her tour bus staring out the window. Chris, deciding to go ahead with the encore had flown out from Washington to L.A. alone after many hours of unsuccessfully trying to change her mind. Because when Haley James made up her mind, it was final.

_Welcome to North Carolina!_

Read a sign that the bus had just passed. The familiar scenes and landscapes of her childhood rolled out around her. Traditional Christmas pines pinpricked the mountains and the coast lingered on the horizon.

Memories of everything from here burned inside her, and for the first time in years she let them surround her. Playing at the beach with her 6 brothers and sisters, her dad zooming her around in the air like an aeroplane in the backyard of the house she grew up in when she was a kid, sitting with Jimmy and Mouth watching her friends play ball on the river court, tutoring on the wharf one of the two people who, still, thinking about hurt too much and lastly, bringing the other person that she couldn't bear to think about, into this world. Holding the past life, the best 18 years of her life in her mind, she slowly drifted off to sleep, hoping that when she woke up she would be back in the place of her fondest memories. Tree Hill.


	6. Chapter 5

Hey everyone. Thanks for reading!

Sorry if I'm not able to update to much, my school just started up again so I won't have as much time to write.

**Chapter 5**

Tric was absolutely packed. There were people everywhere, the bar, the dance floor and just hanging around eagerly waiting for the music. Word had spread about the mystery act that was to perform and nearly all of Tree Hill was here to find out who it was going to be. It was an all ages night, a tradition Peyton had kept in the club that she had worked at since high school and now part owned.

From backstage Ephraim and Ollie could hear the buzz of the crowd. They were nervous, but they were also incredibly excited. All they had done for the past two days was practise. Writing songs hadn't been an issue, as they were performing covers.

"You kids ready?"

Ollie glanced over and saw her aunt Peyton poking her head in to the backstage. She looked at Ephraim who was already brandishing his drumsticks, psyched to be performing and nodded. Peyton disappeared and a few seconds later the two heard her introducing them to the crowd.

Walking onto the stage and seeing the massive crowd, Ollie's insides flipped completely upside down. In the crowd were masses of kids from her school and other people from around town, some she knew and some she didn't. If it hadn't been for Ephraim's hand whivh briefly patted her on the back to reassure her she probably would have turned and ran as far away from the stage as she could. She could vaguely hear Ephraim speaking as she stared out at the crowd.

"Hey Tree Hill," Ephraim shouted to the audience, " tonight we're going to be doing some covers for you, to start it off this is called _First Time _by Lifehouse. My name is Ephraim Davis and this is Olivia Scott," He announced grinning confidently out into the crowd. Ollie glanced nervously into the mass of people. Being taken over by the beat of Ephraim's drumming; she began to strum her guitar. The music swelled up inside her, and all nerves forgotten, she started singing.

_We're both looking for something  
We've been afraid to find  
It's easier to be broken  
It's easier to hide_

Looking at you, holding my breath,  
For once in my life, I'm scared to death,  
I'm taking a chance, letting you inside.

From the stage wings, everything happening on stage could be seen as well as heard. And that's exactly where Haley James stood. No one except for those backstage could see her, and because everyone was watching the stage, no one knew she was there. She was holding her breath staring at the girl on stage. Olivia Scott. She finally knew her own daughters name, she finally saw her daughter. The girl was beautiful; Haley saw herself, as well as Nathan, the perfect mix. Floods of questions and emotions filled her mind and she would have given anything to reach out hug her daughter, to speak to her daughter, but she knew she couldn't. Standing here now, she was scared to death now. She knew there was no going back after tonight, not that she wanted to.

For the first time in 15 years, Haley was ready to take chance.

_  
Feeling alive all over again,  
As deep as the sky, under my skin  
Like being in love, she says  
For the first time  
Maybe I'm wrong,  
But I'm feeling right where I belong  
With you tonight  
Like being in love  
To feel for the first time_

The world that I see inside you  
Waiting to come to life  
Waking me up to dreaming  
Reality in your eyes

_  
_Beside the dance floor stood the man wondering to himself whether anyone in history had ever been as proud as he was of his daughter at this moment. While live music was usually a dark cold area for Nathan, tonight Ollie's voice and how genuinely excited she looked made him feel the most thrilled and alive he had ever felt. The world was finally getting to see what he saw in her everyday, how great she was. On stage, as she got more and more into the song it was like she was coming to life in front of their eyes, blossoming into the great kid he knew she was.

For the first time in 15 years, Nathan considered that maybe music wasn't the most horrible thing ever.

_  
Looking at you,  
Holding my breath,  
For once in my life  
I'm scared to death,  
I'm taking a chance,  
Letting you inside._

I'm feeling alive all over again  
As deep as the sky under my skin  
Like being in love, she says, for the first time  
Maybe I'm wrong, I'm feeling right  
Where I belong with you tonight  
Like being in love to feel for the first time

We're crashing  
Into the unknown  
We're lost in this  
But it feels like home

On stage the singer/guitarist was pouring her soul into the song. Through her performance Ollie was showing the crowd who she was on the inside. Glancing over at Ephraim she saw that he was feeling the exact same way as her, like they were exactly where they belonged. She was completely lost in the music as if it had taken control of her entire mind and body. Every one in the crowd was dancing, cheering, and enjoying their music, the music she was part of. The feeling was just so incredibly 

right and she knew that standing in front of the crowd that she was home and that this was what she wanted to do forever.

For the first time, in the past 15 years of her whole life, Ollie felt more loved and more right than anyone in the world.

I'm feeling alive all over again  
As deep as the sky under my skin  
Like being in love, she says, for the first time  
Maybe I'm wrong, I'm feeling right  
Where I belong with you tonight  
Like being in love to feel for the first time

* * *

Adrenaline was still pumping full speed through every inch of Ollie's body. This was the best she had ever felt, she and Ephraim had left the stage, loud applause and cheering following them backstage. She was now alone in the female dressing room at Tric still buzzing with excitement from being on stage, getting ready to go out and watch Haley James perform.

The sound of the door opening caused her to turn.

"Hi," Haley half whispered as she entered the changing room, mesmerised by the fact that her daughter sat in front of her, that she had just spoke to her daughter. And there was no doubt about it that she was definately her daughter. The teenage girl was the spitting image of her.

"Oh my god, you're... Oh my god" Ollie stuttered with no idea she was speaking to her mother, and then in a massive rush of words, "I have all your albums, even your oldest one, I'm like your biggest fan ever. Ive wanted to meet you forever but I've never been allowed to go to any of you concerts. This is so cool."

Haley's face fell slightly as she listened to her daughter and realised that Ollie had no idea that she was her mother and that Nathan must've never told her. Haley was nothing more to her than a famous pop star. Knowing she had no right to be upset, she grinned at the girl hoping it didn't appear forced. "Um yea it's nice to meet you, you were great out there." She said meaning it. Her daughter had talent.

"Wha..? She liked it. Haley James thinks I'm good" Ollie muttered to herself astoundedly happy to be praised by her music idol.

"Yeah it was awesome, I'd love to work with you sometime do some recording for you and your friend", Haley said seizing the opportunity to create a reason to spend time with her unknowing daughter.

Ollie squealed "Are you serious? Oh my god! You have no idea how great that would be".

Grinning, genuinely happy Haley wrote down her number for the teenage girl. "Call me sometime to set it up 'K?

Awestruck, Ollie just nodded.

Haley grabbed her guitar, "Bye Olivia". She smiled, loving how it felt to be able to say her daughter's name and also knowing that this time it wasn't really goodbye.

She felt Ollie's eyes follow her all the way out of the dressing room, knowing that if the girl had any idea who Haley really was, her eyes would very likely to be filled with a very different look than the awe that currently filled them.

* * *

Toward the stage, she heard Peyton announcing to the crowd to put their hands together for tonight's surprise performance.

She stepped onto the stage and immediately her eyes found blue. And even though the crowd was going crazy all Haley heard was silence and all she saw was the eyes of the one she loved.

_A/N: the song was First Time-Lifehouse_


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

She stepped onto the stage and immediately her eyes found blue. And even though the crowd was going crazy all Haley heard was silence and all she saw the eyes of the one she loved.

* * *

The second she stepped onto the stage he felt her presence closing in on him. He was suffocating gasping for air, the heat in the club was rising like a fire engulfing him, the noise of the crowd along with the thump of his heart was booming. He vaguely registered the sound of the music starting and the sound of her voice. He didn't want to hear it. Yet the brown of her eyes was still burning right through his own eyes into the depths of his soul.

He had to get out of there, away from her.

Bile was rising in his throat, threatening to escape. Swallowing, he scorched his throat. Frantically he spun searching for the nearest exit. He found it. The door was over by the bar. Focussing on nothing but the door, he ran for it desperately. Not caring that he was knocking into people on both sides, drinks spilling all over him he barraged to the door.

Once he had blown open the door, he stumbled to the stone wall on the outside of Tric. Collapsing against the wall with his hand clenched into the wall for support. His head fell to lean against the wall also.

His mind couldn't comprehend anything that he had just seen, it had really been Haley.

He retched, once, twice. Finally escaping the vomit coated the ground next to his shoes, he heaved again, throwing up for a second time. Physically his body was completely empty, yet he still felt sick.

Drawing his fist back above his head he blindly slammed it into the red brick hearing the skin tear and bone smack as he struck the wall with all the force he could muster. Throbbing, burning pain shot through his hand as the blood began to freely run from his cut up knuckles, it blocked the pain in his heart and the sick in his stomach though. Feeling his legs buckle underneath him he fell to his knees, not caring about the blood and vomit mixing right below him.

Soon though there was more than just vomit and blood, for mixed in with them were his tears.

Tric was going insane. As far as Ollie knew nothing this exciting had happened in Tree Hill since, well ever. Obviously she didn't know much about everything that had gone down when her dad was a teenager. Searching through the crowd she finally spotted Jess dancing with some friends and ran over to her.

"You were awesome", Jess shrieked, grabbing Ollie's hand and pulling her into the group to dance with them. Haley had begun to perform and for the second time that night Ollie let the music take over her body, and had the time of her life dancing with her friends and listening to her musical hero sing.

_Secret heart  
What are you made of  
What are you so afraid of  
Could it be  
Three simple words  
Or the fear of being overheard  
_

_What's wrong  
Let her in on your secret heart_

"This sucks" Luke said unemotionally to no-one in particular not realising Ephraim was standing next to him.

"Huh?" Ephraim asked wondering what exactly was so bad about the night, that to him seemed awesome.

"Oh Ephraim, ah nothing."

"Umm, OK ," Ephraim gave him a strange look. "I'm gonna go find Ollie then."

Luke nodded momentarily glancing at the boy, knowing he must seem strange to Ephraim, before darting his eyes back to the stage where the woman he had once called his best friend sang.

The only way Luke could think of to describe the way he felt was confused. On the one hand he was still angry and hurt that she had left without a word and given no contact for 15 years, abandoning his brother and niece. Abandoning him, her best friend. However on the other hand, he had missed her more than he had ever told anyone. Anger was one word to describe how he felt when she left but he knew Haley better than anyone so he also knew that there was no way she would leave without a reason. He just had no idea what it was and even though his brother would never admit it, Nathan still loved her and for him to be truly happy, he needed her.

Still, the only reaction Luke had, was to stare emotionlessly at the stage.

_Secret Heart  
Why so mysterious  
Why so sacred  
Why so serious  
Maybe you're  
Just acting tough  
Maybe you're just not bad enough  
What's wrong_

Let her in on your secret heart

Peyton felt as if a huge weight had been lifted the second Haley had entered the stage. Keeping the fact that, just one month ago she had come in contact with her niece's mother, from everyone she loved had been difficult for her. Her brief conversation with Haley over the phone organising the gig, hadn't exactly been friendly, sure it was civil but Peyton hadn't tried in any way to be welcoming. She always knew that Haley would come back to Tree Hill eventually, but couldn't help wanting the inevitable to be prolonged.

But, now Haley was here, and while the performance was amazing and great for the clubs media and income, Peyton couldn't help but fear how broken, the return of her old friend was going to leave her family. It was going to be a long time before everything became right again, she just knew it.

_  
This very secret  
That you're trying to conceal  
Is the very same one  
You're dying to reveal  
_

_Go tell her how you feel_

Secret heart come out and share it  
This loneliness, few can bear it  
Could it have something to do with  
Admitting that you just can't go through it alone

Let her in on your secret heart

Haley looked out over the once familiar club. The club where she had first been discovered and now, the club where she was going to hopefully fall off the music world's radar. From her position on stage she could see nearly the whole club.

Her eyes were currently watching her daughter who was with a group of friends laughing and dancing. Haley noticed how happy she looked, while the smile on her daughters face was one of the best things she had ever seen, in a selfish way it made her feel sad. It reminded her of all the smiles she had missed. She had known that Nathan would be a good father and that her daughter would always be loved, that hadn't made leaving or seeing her now any easier or less painful.

Next, she saw Lucas looking up at her. His gaze was unreadable; she couldn't tell if it was angry or forgiving. She smiled through her song directly down at him making sure he saw her pointing her smile at him. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards, the slightest bit so she hardly saw it, but still enough for her to know that deep down he still thought of her as a friend in some small way. That alone made her feel so much better, to know not all of her ties here were completely broken forever as she feared would be the case with Olivia and Nathan.

The blonde curly head of Peyton then caught her eye. She knew her old friend had a huge problem with people leaving, and Haley could tell from their brief phone call that Peyton wasn't entirely thrilled at her return. Haley also knew Peyton tended to have a soft spot for those that come back.

Knowing the song was coming to a close, her eyes searched for the one person she had lost in the crowd as her song had started.

_  
This very secret  
That you're trying to conceal  
Is the very same one  
That you're dying to reveal  
Go tell her how you feel  
This very secret  
Go out and share it  
This very secret_

But Haley James couldn't find Nathan Scott anywhere.

* * *

He could see it. It was getting closer and closer. With stumbling steps he approached the place that would make all this go away. Finally opening the door, a burst of heat blew into him from the warm shop compared to the cold night outside. At the counter he grunted, clearing his throat.

"Bourbon". He spat to the alcohol shop owner.

He paid as the shop keeper place the bottle in front of him. Snatching it up, he had opened it before he had even exited the shop.

The bottles rim felt like heaven against his lips, as did the liquid against his throat. Every part of his body numbed, the pain in his knuckles eased, his head stopped throbbing and even through his throat still burned, it definitely wasn't from retching.

Nathan didn't send one thought toward his daughter who had no idea that her mother had just returned to her life, or to his brother whose best friend had come back after 15 years.

All he could think about was making sure the bourbon made its way from the bottle to his mouth.

* * *

A/N: The song Haley is singing is Feist - Secret Heart


	8. Chapter 7

_**Note:**_In this chapter**, **_italics, _stand for whats happening in a dream.

**Chapter 7**

Two days had passed in Tree Hill since the Haley James concert, since the Haley James' big announcement. That Saturday night as she prepared to end the concert, she had told everyone at Tric that she, was retiring from music to live, permanently in Tree Hill.

At that moment it all became clear to Ollie why such a big star was offering to help her, a teenage girl with her music. Haley was trying to give other people the opportunities that she had had. And Ollie felt like the most privileged person in the world that she wanted to give her those opportunities. Well, that's what Ollie was sure Haley's intentions were anyway.

"Ollie, you have to get up. We have school." She heard Ephraim call from outside her door.

Groaning, she got out of bed. She ran a brush through her honey blonde hair and threw on a clean top with some jeans. Quickly making sure she was at least presentable she left her room.

Down the hall she could hear muffled snores coming from her father's room. Ollie had been slightly worried about her father a few days ago, but that was nothing compared to now. She had barely seen her father the past two days and the few times that she had, he always had some kind of alcohol in his hand.

She also knew from some of the guys on the basketball team that he hadn't turned up to practise the past two days. He just stayed in his room sleeping all day.

On Sunday night he had briefly appeared in the kitchen to grab another beer. She had tried to talk to him, ask him what was wrong. He'd just grunted and disappeared into his room, slamming the door as he went.

Her father seemed to be falling apart and she had no idea why.

"Dad?" She knocked softly on his door. "Me and Rai are going to school now. I love you."

Ollie waited at the door hoping for any kind of response; although the snoring abated she received no answer.

The feeling of hand on her shoulder prompted her to turn. Ephraim was behind her, she looked sadly into his eyes, seeing that he felt exactly the same way about what was happening as she did. She pulled him into a tight hug.

"There's nothing we can do Oll, he'll come out when he's ready", Ephraim said trying to comfort Ollie.

The truth was though; Ephraim was just as scared by the way Nathan was acting as she was.

* * *

_Bouncing. The sound of a basketball echoed all around him. Nathan was alone on the river court. It was dark. A lone streetlight was illuminating the court. He could hear the thump, thump, thump of a basketball bouncing but he couldn't see where it was coming from. Over by the net he saw a flash of orange in the corner of his eye. He stared at the spot. There was nothing there. He was by the bleachers now._

_No wait, he was in a hospital, Tree Hill hospital. The thumping was a heart beat. A chorus of angels stood weeping behind a window looking in at the room. Haley was lying in the bed with a doctor standing over her. Suddenly, silence. The thumping disappeared._

"_Time of death 4.37."_

_That voice, so familiar. The doctor turned only it wasn't a doctor. It was a hooded man. Nathan couldn't see who it was. He wanted to know who it was._

_The hooded man disappeared._

_Nathan was in the backseat of a car. Lucas was driving, Ollie in the passenger seat. He was shouting to them to stop but they couldn't hear him. He tried to reach out to them over the seat. His hand hit an invisible something that he couldn't get through. Banging on the barrier, Nathan glanced out the window._

_They passed a petrol station. It burst into flames as a horned beast with a bright red halo above it's head stood laughing it with a guitar in its hand._

_Lucas and Ollie were gone. They were standing on the side of the road looking in at him sadly. No-one was driving the car. It was spinning out of control. Everything was spinning out of control. Bang! Nathan screamed, his throat burned._

His throat burned. He wondered what was going on. Where was he?

A red neon clock light glowed at him. 11:14.

Something soft was underneath him. A bed. He knew where he was. Thinking about the dream Nathan shivered.

Haley, he remembered back to the other night. He felt hung over? He didn't want to be hung over. Glancing around frantically his eyes found what they were searching for. The half empty bottle of vodka on his bedside table.

Grabbing it, he cradled it to him. Then he took a long, wonderful drink.

There was no way he was going to be hung over.

* * *

Tree Hill High School hadn't changed a bit. Haley stood outside her ex school, trying to gather up the confidence to set foot inside its teenager full gates. Principle Turner was still the principle after all this time, and this morning she had a meeting with him. She was Tree Hill High's brand new music teacher.

Since she had been standing there, which had only been a few minutes, 11 people had asked for her autograph, 4 for a photo with her and, _everyone_ who had walked past either whispered about her or stared at her. She really did feel like she was in High school again, what with all the gossip going on.

"Miss James?" Haley heard someone say shyly, thinking 'Not again' she turned and was pleasantly surprised when she found herself face to face with Ollie and not some star struck kid wanting her autograph.

"Hi, um I'm Olivia Scott; we met at Tric the other night." Ollie said nervously.

"Yeah, I remember. You and your friend opened for me right?" Haley replied; covering up the fact she was thrilled to be talking to her daughter and tried to act normal.

"Yeah. Well I was going to call you but your here so I figured I would just ask you now, but umm what you said about working with us on our music. Do you still want to? Because, I mean I talked to Ephraim and he said he wanted to. I know your probably busy and everything but..."

"I'm not too busy." Haley said cutting Ollie off, knowing from self experience that the girl probably wouldn't stop rambling until someone interrupted her. "Are you?" Ollie looked at her blankly. "Busy I mean, after school?"

"Ohhh", Ollie finally got what she was talking about. "Nope I'm free and I think Ephraim is too."

"Great, I'd love to hear some more of your stuff." She smiled and gave her address to Ollie, telling her to stop by after school.

Ollie took the piece of paper the older lady was handing her just as the bell for home room went.

Haley watched the young girl wave goodbye to her before hurrying off to class. Watching the young girl leave, she felt a sense of happiness, unlike anything she had felt in a long time, from knowing that she was finally going to get to know her daughter, even if it wasn't as her mother.

At that moment she also felt enough courage to finally enter the school.

* * *

"Guess who Tree Hills newest Striker is?" Ephraim sing-songed, sliding onto the outdoor bench where Ollie sat with some of her friends during lunch period.

"What? Like soccer?" Ollie scrunched her nose thinking of the sport that she considered being far inferior to basketball.

He rolled his eyes at her, "Not everyone's born with a god given talent for basketball Ollie."

"I know, but soccer, really?"

"I like soccer," he defended, noticing her still slightly condescending expression. "Chase taught me back in New York. Well anyway I have practice my first practice this afternoon."

"This afternoon?" her expression changed to one of wide eyed worry. "You can't"

"Why not?"

"Haley James wants to listen to some of our music this afternoon." She told him dramatically, "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity Rai. We have to go." She was practically begging.

"I can't miss my first practice. No reason you can't still go though. She could get us more gigs like the one at Tric. That was awesome. Come on, you have to."

"But dad might ..." Ollie tried to fish for excuses as she was too nervous to want to go alone.

He interrupted her, "Nathan probably won't even notice."

"Fine, I'll go" she grumbled knowing he was right.

"Good," he chirped, pleased with himself for having convinced her. "I'll see you at home after soccer."

He got up and threw his bag over his shoulder, before heading to the library to catch up on some of the massive pile of work he had received due to being new mid term.

"Pfft, soccer." She muttered under her breath mockingly before swivelling in her seat to turn back toward her friends.

* * *

In her new classroom Haley was eating her lunch also. She had been going to visit Lucas at the English department to try and sort things out with him, but she had learned from another teacher that he didn't stay for lunch. So here she was alone in her classroom yet to talk to anyone from her past.

What she didn't notice however was the dark haired, dark eyed boy staring suspiciously in at her through the tiny door window.


	9. Chapter 8

_**Flashback in bold italics.**_

**Chapter 8**

SOLD. The big red letters were stamped onto a realtor sign outside the house Ollie was approaching. School had finished a half hour earlier and she was just now arriving at Haley's house. When Haley had announced at the Tric performance that she was going to settle down in Tree Hill, Ollie hadn't really believed it. She couldn't see why somebody as famous as Haley James would want to live somewhere so small and boring. But she couldn't deny the fact that the star had bought a house, got a job and seemed to be setting down roots.

She knocked on the door, rearranging her guitar strap on her shoulder nervously. After school before coming here she had run home to get her guitar.

The door opened, and Haley stood behind it smiling at her.

"Come on in." She said warmly gesturing for Ollie to enter the house.

Self consciously Ollie glanced at her before entering the house.

There were boxes everywhere, some half unpacked, some not even opened.

"Umm, the studios this way." Haley was pointing down the hall. She was nervous; this was her only chance to get to know Ollie without her hating her. If it went well she might, just maybe be ready to tell her that she was the mother that left her when she was a child. Maybe.

"You have your own studio? Of course you have a studio," Ollie said in awe shaking her heaed at her silly question.

"Yeah, in here." Haley noticed it was kind of awkward. "Where's your friend? Ephraim was it?

Ollie nodded, "He had soccer practice this afternoon and couldn't come. So, ah, why were you at school this morning?" she asked knowing that she probably shouldn't pry, but curiosity getting the better of her.

"Oh, I'm the new music teacher. Do you take it?"

"Um no I don't."

There was a slightly awkward pause. Haley could tell the younger girl was kind of star struck and that she wanted to be polite.

The two were now in the studio. Ollie had gotten out her guitar, not completely sure what she was meant to do.

"Can you play something for me?" Haley asked gently.

"Like what?"

"Whatever you want"

Ollie nodded as a small blush rose to her cheeks.

Then she began to play.

* * *

On the field Ephraim was carving it up. Even though from a young age, Nathan had taught him basketball, he had never really understood everyone's love for the game, but when his stepfather Chase had been kicking a soccer ball round one day and Ephraim had joined in, the game just clicked with him. Earlier that day when he had been talking to the coach about joining the team, the memory of first learning soccer came back to him. As did the memory of a conversation 4 years ago he knew he shouldn't have overheard.

_**Ephraim knew he should really have been in bed. He wasn't tired though, he wanted to play more soccer. If his mom didn't see them he was pretty sure Chase would let him. 9 o' clock was too early for an eleven year old to go to bed anyway. **_

_**As quietly as he could, he snuck to the bottom of the staircase hoping his mom wouldn't catch him. At the bottom he heard voices and quiet music coming from the family room. **_

"_**She has a new album out huh?" That was his stepfather's voice.**_

"_**Yep", he heard his mother say sadly.**_

"_**How's Nathan holding up?" **_

_**On the stairs, Ephraim's ears perked up at the sound of Nathans name being said. He crept closer to the door, making out the music to be Haley James singing.**_

"_**I rang him earlier. He said he was fine, but I'm not so sure Chase."**_

"_**Yeah, I know. It's been years, but do you reckon she's going to ever come back, you know to them?**_

"_**I have no idea. The Haley I knew never would have abandoned her daughter and husband in the first place."**_

"_**I know babe. Its just sad is all to think that they may never see each other again."**_

_**Then they were silent apart from the soft rustling of them changing positions on the couch. Even though he couldn't see into the lounge, because the door was closed, he knew that his moms head was resting on Chases shoulder and his arm was wrapped tightly around her shoulders. He even knew from the tone of his mom's voice that her eyes were laced with sadness.**_

_**Tonight wasn't a good night to be naughty, he knew that now. What he also knew was that his parents were talking about Nathan and Ollie. He didn't fully understand though, what the singer Haley James had to do with them.**_

_**Silently, he tiptoed up the stairs to his room, confused by what he had just heard.**_

_**By the next morning however, his parent's conversation had been pushed out of his mind and he didn't remember it again.**_

Until it had re entered his mind earlier today.

As soon as he saw Haley at school, he had known exactly what his parent's conversation had meant. Haley was Ollie's mother. It all made so much sense, Nathans sudden depression and Haley's interest in Ollie.

And poor Ollie who, he knew was going to get caught in the middle and hurt in the process.

He felt anger at the situation building inside him. The ball at his feet he dribbled toward the goal putting his anger into the soccer. Booting the ball, he looked on as it flew into the net.

* * *

_Somewhere over the rainbow  
Way up high  
There's a land that I heard of  
Once in a lullaby _

_Somewhere over the rainbow  
Skies are blue  
And the dreams that you dare to dream  
Really do come true _

Ollie sang, not looking at Haley, looking at the floor instead. What made her choose to sing this, she had no idea, it just came out. She had never practiced it or even really played it before, yet she knew the words and chords off by heart. This was the song that her father used to play to her as a child. He was a terrible singer, so he had always played her this; somehow it had always been able to settle her.

_Some day I'll wish upon a star  
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me  
Where troubles melt like lemon drops  
Away above the chimney tops  
That's where you'll find me _

_Somewhere over the rainbow  
Bluebirds fly  
Birds fly over the rainbow  
Why then, oh why can't I?  
Some day I'll wish upon a star  
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me  
Where troubles melt like lemondrops  
Away above the chimney tops  
That's where you'll find me _

As Haley listened, she noticed a hint of sadness in the girl's voice. Haley watched Olivia's bowed head rise ever so slightly to glance over at her, before looking back down again. She could tell that as the song progressed her daughter was getting more comfortable and confident within herself.

_Somewhere over the rainbow  
Bluebirds fly  
Birds fly over the rainbow  
Why then, oh why can't I? _

_If happy little bluebirds fly  
Beyond the rainbow  
Why, oh why can't I?_

As the song came to an end, Haley's eyes were damp. She wiped them as she noticed Olivia turning to look at her, not wanting her to see her cry.

"That was beautiful Olivia" Haley said truthfully.

"Um really? Thanks." A small smile played on Ollie's lips and a slight blush on her cheeks. "My dad used to play it to me when I was little." She said not really knowing why she told Haley it.

Haley smiled, for some reason Olivia had opened up to her, even if it was only something as small as what she had just said. But she knew that she shouldn't ask her daughter anything personal, it would seem strange and creepy. She didn't have that privilege with her daughter yet. So she changed the subject.

"When your friend Ephraim's not busy I could do some recording for you, if you'd like." Haley suggested.

"Yeah." She smiled wondering why Haley was being so nice, "Thanks, I'll ask him."

Ollie peered at her watch noticing the time, and also feeling that she should probably leave soon, afterall Haley was pretty much a stranger.

"I'd better go", Ollie said placing her guitar gently in its case. "Thanks for listening to me play."

Watching her get up, Haley wasn't ready to say goodbye yet, she also knew that it was time to talk to Nathan. "Olivia, I can give you a ride home".

Ollie smiled. "Ok Thanks, umm you can call me Ollie if you want. Everyone does."

"Ok Ollie," Haley smiled, she knew that pretty soon her daughter wouldn't be this accepting of her.

The two headed out to the car. Haley knowing that at the other end of the drive was one of the most difficult confrontations she would ever have. Seeing Nathan face to face after all this time.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

In the driveway of Nathan Scott's house, sat an expensive looking car. Haley sat in that car waving to her daughter who was heading into the house waving over her shoulder as she went. During the drive Ollie had gotten more and more talkative, to the point where most of the awkwardness had vanished. Haley had loved it, being able to just chat with her daughter.

She saw the door open, a manly figure behind it, Ollie disappeared inside leaving only the manly figure. The man was unshaven and had about two days worth of fuzz covering his face. He just stood on the doorstep glaring out at the car.

The car windows were tinted, but not enough that he couldn't tell it was her. Not enough to block out the icy cold of his glare. Any courage she had built up toward talking to him since she got back burnt out in that one second of his anger fuelled stare.

Frantically, not able to stand the cold radiating from him, she put the car into gear and accelerated, flooring it to get away from his disapproving coldness as quickly as she possibly could.

Tears pricked in her eyes as she drove. It wasn't Nathans fault, it was hers. She was the one that left, it was her fault and she hated herself for it. Balling one of her fists against the steering wheel she raked away her tears with the other hand, refusing to let herself cry for the thousandth time over what she had completely brought upon herself.

At least Ollie was starting to like her. That was the only thing making her hold on. And who knew how long that would last, as soon as Ollie learnt the truth, that Haley was her mother, her daughter would probably hate her as much as her husband did.

Legally she was still Haley James Scott, even though for professional purposes she hadn't gone by it for years. Everyday, for ages she had checked the mail expecting divorce papers to show up, but they never had. She and Nathan were technically still married. Unbeknownst to the world, she even still wore her wedding ring. Just like she had never stopped loving him or their daughter.

* * *

Seconds after Nathan shut the door the fiery stench of alcohol struck Ollie. He was drunk, again. No, not again, still. He sat down at the table a beer in his hand.

"Dad, what are you doing?" she worriedly asked, sitting across from him and forcing him to look at her, "I'm worried about you. All you do is drink."

"I don't want you seeing her," he grunted, ignoring her worries.

"What? Seeing who dad?" her voice raised a little bit.

"That lady you were just with. She's trouble." He refused to say Haley's name.

"Haley? Why not?" Ollie's voice sounded slightly confused.

"Because I don't want you to?" He said abruptly and loudly.

Ollie's voice rose slightly too, "But she's going to help me with my music!"

"No! Stay away from her Olivia." Nathan bellowed, standing, his hands firmly on the table.

He glared angrily at her once more before sculling the rest of his beer and walking into the bathroom, slamming the door heavily behind him.

Ollie was shocked. Her dad almost never shouted at her, only if she did something really, really bad, and she hadn't done anything. He was acting so strange, yet he wouldn't let her in, he was only drinking and pushing everyone away. Everyday, she could tell he was drunker than the previous.

He had told her once, that when he was a teenager, his mom, her grandma Deb had become addicted to pills, and how horrible it had been. Now, to Ollie, it seemed he was becoming the same if not worse, than he had described her grandmother during her addiction. Ollie feared he was becoming an alcoholic.

The sound of the shower running broke the silence, and sent Ollie running to her room, to be safely away from him when he emerged. She couldn't handle seeing her dad like this.

For the first time, Ollie truly felt like she had no one.

* * *

Nathan was pissed, in both senses of the word, angry and drunk. The water from the shower ran over his toned body soaking into every crevice. She had come to his house, parked in his driveway, dropped off his daughter. He had every right to be angry, she was the one that left, and it was her choice. The first time she came back, during senior year, he had let her back in. He wasn't going to make that mistake twice.

For Ollie's sake, he wouldn't let Haley into either of their lives. Already she was poisoning his daughters mind with her bullshit. Trying to drive them apart. He knew what she was up to. And he wouldn't let her get away with it.

To him, Haley was just like his father, Dan Scott. Just like Dan had abandoned Luke and only come back when it suited his selfish needs, she had abandoned Ollie and come back for the same reasons.

Shouting at his daughter was horrible for him, but he had to get her to see that Haley couldn't be trusted. It hurt him to shout at Ollie. The alcohol helped numb that pain a little.

So, turning off the shower, he went and got another drink.

* * *

Darkness had fallen a little over half an hour ago. She had been driving, just driving since seeing Nathan. Not once however had she driven outside of Tree Hills boundaries. Currently she was in her old neighbourhood, near the house where she grew up. Peering out her side window she happened to see Peyton exiting a house with 2 young children, before getting them into the car and driving away. Haley pulled over onto the side of the road outside the house she had just seen Peyton leave and put her car into park.

On the letterbox, was the word Scott. Knowing that it wasn't Nathans house, it had to be Lucas'. She smiled knowing that he and Peyton must have worked out, even after all the drama senior year. Approaching the door she let out a nervous breath, hesitating for just a second before knocking.

The door flew open revealing a skinny girl who looked about 13. She had blonde hair and green eyes, covered by glasses. She was holding a book in her hand.

"Hi." Haley smiled at the girl. "Is your dad home?"

The girl turned, "Daddy, there's someone here for you." She called.

Lucas appeared round the corner, his face developing a stunned expression when he saw her standing there.

"Hey Elise, do you think you could go upstairs for a while?" He said to the young girl, never taking his eyes off Haley.

Elise Scott, Lucas' oldest daughter nodded and ran upstairs, curious but still doing as her dad said.

Once he was sure his daughter was gone he spoke.

"Haley James Scott" was all he said.

As soon as he said her name, her full name, he saw tears well up in her eyes. All his anger and upset toward her melted in a second and he pulled his best friend into his arms.

"Oh Hales," he said as she wrapped her arms tightly around him, scared that he would let go. "Come on"

He led her into the lounge and sat her down on the couch. Pulling up a chair so that he could sit opposite her, he sat himself.

"Why'd you leave Hales? You know it crushed so many people."He said it gently, not wanting to scare her away.

She knew exactly who he was talking about. "I had to Luke. I had no choice." Haley said barely louder than a whisper.

"Why not?"

She shook her head looking at the ground, "I can't".

"You can tell me Hales". She just kept shaking her head, tears spilling silently into her lap.

Knowing that she wouldn't, maybe even couldn't yet talk about the reason why she left he decided to just be her friend, not the one she left behind, just the friend he had always been to her.

"That was my oldest daughter Elise that opened the door." He said, smiling when Haley glanced up with a small teary smile on her own face.

"She looks just like Peyton" Haley replied, knowing that even if Luke hadn't forgiven her, he wanted to.

Luke chuckled. "I know, but she's just like me, always reading. I have two more as well, Penny and Larry." He stood up and pulled down a photo album and showed her his two youngest with a proud look on his face.

"They're great Luke."

"I know. Your kids not so bad either you know?"

Haley grinned, finally able to talk to about Ollie as her daughter. "I know. She came over today." she told him.

"What? I thought she didn't know about you."Luke asked puzzled.

"She doesn't. I'm just her favourite singer who offered to help her out with her music." Haley smiled wryly.

"Are you sure that's a good idea Hales?

"Probably not, but I couldn't help it. I have to know her. She seems like such a good kid."

Luke chuckled, "She is. Ollie's just like you." He took the photo album and flicked through until he found what he was looking for. Placing it on Haley's lap he glanced up at her to catch her expression.

The page of the album he had turned to was full of pictures of Ollie growing up. When he had taken the photos, he had told himself it was just the Uncley thing to do. But now, he knew the real reason. He had been taking them for his best friend, in the hope that one day this moment would come.

Haley was running her finger over pictures from all the years that she had missed. Her eyes were laced with tears of wonder.

"There perfect Lucas." She whispered in awe, her eyes never leaving the page.

"Hales?" She looked up at him, into his eyes. "You can have them."

He gently pulled the photos out of the album and handed them to her.

"Thank you Lucas. You have no idea what this mea..."

"Shh", He cut her off by pulling her into his arms once more. "It's nothing. Just promise you'll make everything right".

"I promise Luke"

And she meant it with all her heart. She would do everything she could possibly do to fix this.

A/N: sorry for the slow update. I know you all wanted a Nathan and Haley confrontation but its not quite time yet so sorry.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

School and work had been tough. Trying to concentrate while constantly worrying about her dads drinking had been impossible. Ollie was just glad it was over and she was finally home. Unlocking and opening the door she was surprised at the silence that met her.

"Dad?" She called out, walking further into the house.

No answer, just silence.

"Rai?" She shouted.

Once again, no answer.

Nobody was home, which was strange. Her dad's team did have practice today, but she knew from some of the guys on the team that he hadn't turned up all week had and the co coach Wilson had been taking the basketball trainings alone. Ephraim however was probably just at a mates place. She looked into the garage, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw her dad's car was still there. At least he hadn't driven anywhere drunk.

She went into the kitchen wondering whether they might have left a note. On the counter she did find a scrap of paper. It wasn't a note though; it was a receipt from the day before for a bottle of whiskey from the liquor shop. Angrily, she crushed the piece of paper in her fist and threw it as far as she could away from her.

Her fathers drunkenness had been going on for all week, she was sick of it. He was practically becoming an alcoholic in front of her eyes; there was no way she would let that happen.

From the fridge and pantry she pulled out every single thing that contained alcohol and emptied it into the sink, the colours of brown, clear, yellow and orange mingling together, in a huge alcoholic stench, making her want to vomit.

Once the kitchen was free of all the vodka, beer, rum, bourbon, whisky and even cooking brandy, she headed into his bedroom to empty his personal stash, knowing that he would have one hidden somewhere.

The door was closed, but she pushed her way in anyway. Nathans room was a mess, clothes from days ago, empty bottles and fast food wrappers littered the floor. It stunk too.

Throwing all the empty bottles into the bin she had dragged into the room with her, she started to search for the ones that still contained any liquid.

In the wardrobe alone she found a full crate of beer and 500mls of scotch. She couldn't believe it was this bad, obviously she knew he had been consuming a lot of alcohol, but for him to have all this terrified her because by the amount drinks he had left, it was clear he didn't really intend to stop anytime soon.

After she had emptied everything from the bedside table and the floor, she got down on her hands and knees to search under the bed. Mostly, all that was there were more empty bottles and a few stinky socks. Then her hand brushed against something hard and boxy. She pulled the object out, noticing as her hands grasped it properly that it was a shoebox. Curiously she placed the box on the bed, immediately feeling bad for snooping but due to the current situation with Nathan her conscience didn't stretch very far, so she opened the box.

Inside the box were mostly just old tapes and cassettes. But below them lay three sheets of paper. Removing the three sheets of paper from the box, Ollie looked closely at the first one. It was of two people standing in a beautiful garden. One of the people was her dad; he looked like a teenager, maybe 16 or 17, only very neat and dressed in a black suit over a white dress shirt, he looked like all his dreams had just come true. The other was girl who looked about the same age, and had the exact same expression as Nathan did. She was wearing a white strapless wedding dress with a veil lifted back behind her head. Her arms were wrapped around Nathans waist. Ollie noticed that the girl in the picture looked just like Ollie did herself.

Confused, she turned it over; the only thing it said on the back was 2004.

Ollie placed the photo back in the box and glanced down at the next sheet of paper which also had a photograph on it. It was the same girl as before, slightly older now; she was sitting up in a hospital bed, staring down at a tiny baby wrapped in a pink blanket in her arms. The girl had a look of wonder and joy upon her face but still a pain in her eyes. Once again the girl looked familiar, like Ollie but also like somebody else.

In her head Ollie knew what this all meant, the gears of her brain had clicked together and it all made sense. Only her heart refused to accept what her mind was telling her.

Laying the second photo gently back in the box with the other one, all that remained in her now trembling hand was the third and last piece of paper. This one was not a photo. It was a birth certificate, her birth certificate.

Nearly refusing to look, already knowing in the back of her mind what she would find. Her eyes wandered over her own full name Olivia Jaimi Scott. Then under the Father heading it said, Nathan Royal Scott. Dreading it but not able pull her eyes away, her gaze swept to under where it said Mother. Haley James Scott.

She stood numbly, staringing down at the three little words. Haley James Scott. Haley James was her mother. Haley James was married to her father. Haley James had abandoned them.

Her whole body started to tremble, slightly at first, and then massive quakes ran through her body. The birth certificate fell from her hands to the floor. No longer could she notice the stench from the alcohol or the silence of the house. Her ears were filled with buzzing. She felt like she was going to pass out, she hoped she would pass out, anything to be away from this.

Shock quickly turned into anger. Running into her own room she pulled out all the Haley James albums she could find and threw them on the floor, a look of anger and pure hatred covering her face. Her guitar sat in the corner and she grabbed it, roughly yanking it out of the case. Standing over the pile of CD's she vowed to never be anything like the woman she now knew to be her mother.

Raising the guitar above her head she brought it slamming down into the CD's again and again. With bangs shards of cracked and broken disks flew in all directions. Her once prized, now hated guitar smashed along with them. As each string broke with a twang she felt less and less connected to her despicable mother but music was just one of the things they had in common. Throwing the remnants of her gnarled guitar to the floor on top the shattered CD's, she ran blindly to the bathroom.

The reflected image of her in the mirror taunted her. Ripping open the draw, she fumbled, her still trembling hands pulling out some dark brown hair dye, she and Jess had bought one day, planning to experiment with, but never got round to using. Leaning her head into the sink she turned on the tap, the freezing water sending shivers down her spine. Once her hair was wet she tore open the dye packet, the red words on the side catching her eye, permanent, it read. She bent over to get none on her clothes. Pouring it into her hand she lathered into her head, rubbing hard with her knuckles as if trying to scrub any resemblance, any link to Haley away.

Ollie couldn't believe she had gone to her house, played for her and Haley had let it happen without a word. No wonder her dad was so angry and depressed, she didn't blame him for the drinking anymore and almost felt bad for emptying all his alcohol.

Everything was Haley's fault.

Putting her head back under the sink she rinsed the dye from her hair, noticing the now darker strands hanging in front of her face. Drying it she looked into the mirror again. Her whole head was now a smooth dark brown just like her fathers, none of the natural colour she got from Haley. While her image still taunted her, it was less so now, only her eyes gave it away. So she stamped them shut and left the bathroom.

Needing to be doing something so that she wouldn't have to think about it, she ran out of the house, not even locking the door behind her. She ran until she reached the one place that always held comfort for her, the river court.

Sinking down onto her knees in the middle of the hard court she saw the very faded words, 'We Were Here', faintly spray painted in red like a lost memory from long ago, something she had never noticed before. Looking down directly where she was kneeling, in black equally as faint, were the letters HJS.

That is when Ollie finally let the tears flow, wishing more than ever for the mother she thought had never wanted her but still hating that person more than she did anyone in the world.

* * *

Someone was knocking on the door, so Haley James opened it and, surprised by who was standing on her doorstep.

"We need to talk", the person said, anger laced within each word.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Haley James opened the door and was surprised by who was standing on her doorstep.

"We need to talk", the person said, anger laced within each word.

She nodded and moved aside to allow the person to enter through the door into the house.

"You must be Ephraim", she stated, not needing to ask.

Ephraim nodded, even though he knew it hadn't been aimed as a question. He felt like a traitor coming here, Nathan wanted nothing to do with Haley and as far as he knew Ollie had no idea about her. But he knew that if she was going to stick around, Nathan and Haley had to face each other eventually, or everything would continue to get worse and worse for everyone. He also knew there was no way Nathan would be the one to make the first move.

Once they were in the sitting room, Haley offered him a seat.

"I'll stand", Ephraim said gruffly.

"Ok." She took a seat herself.

"I know who you are Haley, what you did to Ollie and Nathan."

She nervously clasped her hands together, "Oh". Now, Ephraim knew for sure that Haley was indeed Ollie's mother and his assumptions had ben correct.

"I'm not here to tell you what to do or anything, but you made Ollie lose one parent when you left. Don't make her lose Nathan too."

"I.. I'm not. That's not what I want at all" she didn't know what he was accusing her of, she didn't want to take Nathan away from their daughter. "What do you mean, Ephraim?

"Nathan's a drunk Haley. Ever since you came back that's all he's done, drink. He wont listen to anyone. This is your fault and you have to talk to him about it." His voice was steadily rising, tense with emotion. "You can't just walk back into their lives as if you've been gone a week. You have to sort it out. You!"

"Its complicated." She sighed. "Nathan doesn't want to hear what I have to say."

"If you're too much of a coward to even talk to him, why'd you even bother to come back?" He shouted.

She sat shocked, not expecting so much honesty from the young man. Looking into his eyes she could hardly bear to hold his gaze. His eyes burned with such intensity that she knew everything he said was right. She was a coward and she knew exactly what she had to do now.

"I will. I'll talk to him. I'm not trying to make anything worse. I promise." She whispered.

"Good." He looked deeply into her eyes, knowing that she spoke the truth.

Standing, he nodded to her, giving her a silent goodbye, knowing that he had said all that he needed to say. He made his way toward the door and stepped out into the cool dark night.

Sighing and crossing his arms, he looked sadly back at the house. He didn't feel like leaving the house of one broken person, only to enter the house of another equally as broken person so instead of going home, he just walked, letting his feet take him down to the river that ran through Tree Hill.

On the bank, he pulled his shoes off and dangled his feet in the water, letting the soothing rush of water calm him. Drifting down the bank from the wind, the sound of sobbing reached his ears. Hastily pulling his feet out of the water and grabbing his shoes, he ran toward the sound, worried that some one may be in trouble.

As he approached the river court, he saw the figure of a girl with dark hair hunched over in the middle of the concrete slab sobbing. Worriedly he ran over to her.

"Excuse me? Are ok?" He put a hand gently on the girls shoulder hoping he hadn't scared her.

She glanced up, recoiling a little when she felt the hand, "Ephraim?" it came out as sort of a whimper.

Recognising her as soon he saw her eyes, he kneeled down beside her and wiped the tears off her cheeks. "Ollie what happened?" He questioned gently.

"I don't want to be like her Ephraim." She murmured it, her throat hoarse.

He pulled her to him and wrapped his arm around her protectively. "Shh it's ok. Tell me what happened?"

She hiccupped, "I found these pictures and my birth certificate and..", sniffling, she buried her head in his chest.

"You know about Haley?"

"You knew?" The tears pausing as she wrenched away from him, she looked at him with wide eyed astonishment, angry as if she had just been betrayed.

"Not for sure until tonight but I had a feeling. I didn't want you to get hurt though." Sympathy shone in his eyes.

She nodded accepting his answer and smiled a weak, forced, sad smile at him, she was a little angry that he hadn't told her, but right now her anger wasn't focussed at him or her dad, or anyone else who had hid this from her. It was only Haley that she was really mad at.

"Come on, let me take you home", He gently pulled her to her feet and let her lean against him. Then they slowly made their way home.

While Ephraim felt for Nathan and Haley, and thought that they needed to sort things out for their own sakes, if everything went wrong it wouldn't be them left with no chance of surviving. They were adults; they could handle the outcomes of their own screw ups. The real victim would be the girl leaning against his shoulder, the one who was completely innocent in all of this, yet already battling to hold on. And Ephraim knew that this was only the beginning.

* * *

For the first time in a while, Nathan was actually relatively sober. Not fully but a lot less drunk than he had been recently. The door to his house was wide open. Normally, this would have troubled him somewhat considering it was quite late and dark outside, but not tonight; he hardly noticed it was out of the ordinary. He walked right in, breathing in the fresh air that now flowed through his house from the ventilation through the door.

Placing the paper bag he was holding onto the kitchen table, he pulled out its contents. Inside the bag were his recent purchases from the liquor store. Satisfied with the bottles lined on the table, he threw the bag onto the floor, no longer wanting its presence.

The only reason he wasn't as drunk as usual was the fact that he had felt earlier in the day, that he had run out of alcohol.

Nathan couldn't see that his actions were hurting his daughter and Ephraim. He only saw that it was making himself feel better. Also, he had lost all sense of time and had no idea how long it had really been since he had started to binge.

"Nate?" he heard a knock on the still open door. Frantically, recognising his brother's voice he stuffed the bottles into the microwave, hoping they were well enough hidden. He smoothed his hair and collected himself as much as possible. Lucas could not know that he had been drinking.

"In the kitchen Luke" he called to his brother in the soberest voice he could manage.

"Hey Nathan", Luke said, pulling Nathan into a man hug once he had entered the kitchen. For the past week, he had given Nathan the space he knew his brother needed, but now he needed to make sure his little brother was Ok. "How're you holding up?

Nathan sat down at the kitchen table so that Lucas would not see him swaying. "I dunno, its so hard Luke. I never thought she'd be back." Even though what he said was true he knew he was still leaving most things out. He just hoped his brother couldn't tell.

"Have you talked to her?"

"No, I can't" Nathan said stiffly.

"What about Ollie? She deserves to know."

Nathan just shook his head struggling to maintain his composure.

"She's a smart kid Nate, it would be better for you to tell her, than for her to figure it out herself."

Silently, Nathan just sat there staring at the ground refusing to accept what Luke was saying.

Lucas stood and squeezed his brother's shoulder. "Just please don't push everyone away again, or drink like you did when she left. Peyt and I are here if you need us, and Brooke, she's coming down too."

Nathan continued to say nothing.

"Well, I guess you just wanna be alone." He paused frowning," Bye Nate" Luke looked at him troubled, not completely sure of what to say or do.

"Bye Luke" Nathan replied looking up, which to Luke was a good sign.

The door closed with a snap and Nathan sighed, standing and walking over to the microwave. Pulling out the full bottle he glared down at it, suddenly passionately hating the liquid inside and the control it had over him, after being reminded of the pain it had caused him before by someone who had witnessed it the first time. He could finally see how wrong what he had been doing was. How wrong it was to drink away his problems. Alcohol had forced him away from his daughter once when she was just a baby and he went into rehab. He wouldn't leave her this time even if she did hate him for the drinking and lying.

Raising the bottle in his trembling hand, he flung it hard against the wall. It hit just above the sink, smashing into millions of pieces. The glass fell to the ground and the sink. He watched panting, in a twisted way, the brokenness of the bottle making him feel less broken himself.

Nathan Scott was not going to let alcohol control him. Not like it had in the weeks after Haley had left him. Not this time.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Nathan awoke on Saturday morning, his head a little sore from the lasting affects of being so drunk for so long, but still his head felt amazingly clear. Stretching, he made his way out of bed, he wore blue and white striped cotton pyjamas, so not seeing a reason to get dressed, left his room.

In the kitchen he could see Ephraim doing what he assumed was making breakfast for himself. Ollie wasn't with him. Her bedroom door was slightly ajar though and he knew that they needed to talk, that he needed to explain and apologise to his daughter.

He knocked softly, receiving no reply. "Ollie, its dad, can I come in? He asked equally as soft.

"Alright", the reply was weak and sad, guilt shot through him.

Slowly he walked into the room and perched on the end of the bed which she was sitting on leaning against the headboard with her legs under the covers, he tried to show her that she had no reason to be afraid of him anymore. He hadn't seen her last night, not wanting to let her see him so screwed up anymore he had gone into his room before she got home. Not letting it show how surprised he was by the mangled guitar, shattered CD's all over the floor and her dark head of hair. The tear tracks that ran down her face were what he noticed the most though. He knew that his daughter hardly ever cried.

Not knowing exactly how to start, or how much she had figured out already while he was busy being the worst father in the world he simply said gently, "I'm sorry, for the drinking, for everything".

"It's not your fault, it's hers". She didn't look at him but he could tell from her voice that she was angry, sad and scared all at the same time.

"You..You know about Haley?" terrified she would shut him out but he knew he had to ask.

She nodded sullenly.

"I know I should have told you about her." He paused, thinking how to explain. "It's just I was scared too."

"You were?" her voice was tiny but momentarily she had glanced up at him.

"Yeah, course I was."

He looked at his hands fidgeting in his lap. The bed creaked and he felt the mattress moving as Ollie changed positions. Her arm brushed against his, glancing to his side he saw her sitting just like he was with her feet dangling over the side of the bed, right next to him.

"Is there anything you want to know?"

"No, I don't want to know her at all" she said shaking her head timidly but angrily as she sniffled.

Nathan gently wrapped his arm around her shoulders and he felt her hesitate at first but then lean her head into his shoulder. They sat there like that both needing to feel the closeness. He felt a wet patch forming on his pyjamas where she was crying against his shoulder. Bringing his hand up to stroke her head to try and calm her down he could vaguely hear her whispering something into his shoulder.

"I..." she sniffled struggling to say what she wanted to. "I'm not like her; I'm not going to be like her." It sounded hurt but still stubborn; he couldn't quite tell whether he was trying to convince him or herself.

"I know buddy, your not, I promise."

Lifting her head she smiled shakily at him through her tears before wiping them away with her arm.

"No more drinking?" She looked wide eyed at her father with a slightly puppy doggish expression.

"No more drinking." He promised smiling at her sorry.

"Good"

Hearing that,Ollie felt a little better already. Haley didn't matter. She had her dad, Ephraim and her aunts and uncles even if they had kept the truth from her, at least they'd always been there. All her life she had dealt with having no mother. Just because her mother now happened to live in the same town, didn't mean anything had to be different than it always had been.

"Oliiivviiaa" They heard Ephraim singing as he came down the hall with food to try and cheer Ollie up. "Guess who made you pancaaakes?"

Ephraim poked his head in the door. At first he was puzzled seeing the small smiles on both their faces, after the past week he hadn't expected it, bit his face broke out into a grin anyway.

"So I see you're both feeling better?" he asked the two.

Nathan glanced at Ollie and seeing her nod he nodded too. "Enough for me?" Nathan asked smiling at the two kids.

Ephraim grinned, stoked that Nathan seemed to be getting back to normal "Yeah" He glanced at Ollie who was already digging in. "If you can get any" He chuckled.

Ollie handed Nathan the pancakes and forced a grin onto her face. She did feel better but it all still felt so strange.

"So mom gets here today."Ephraim told them conversationally.

"Brooke's coming?" Ollie asked, now not needing to force the smile.

He looked at them weird because he thought that they knew "Yeah, her and Chase, later today. I'm sure I told you Nathan."

The older man looked at the ground. Understanding that Nathan had probably been too drunk to actually remember being told but didn't want to admit it in front of Ollie, Ephraim covered by saying, "I must've forgotten to tell you."

Nathan looked at him thankfully. "You told them they could stay here right?"

"Yeah, I figured they could, you know umm help with stuff." Ephraim trailed off at the end.

There was a small awkward silence because none of the three wanted to mention all the current problems. Strangely it was Ollie that broke the silence.

"What, um what time do they arrive?"

Ephraim grinned at her. "About one thirty."

Despite the fact that just a day before, her world had been falling apart, now everything seemed to be going right again. Her dad was better; Brooke was coming home and not to mention but Ephraim made some pretty god tasting pancakes.

* * *

Too much of a coward, coward, coward. The word that Ephraim had called swam around inside Haley's head, taunting her. It was so true, that was the problem. That was why it wouldn't leave her alone. Not until she proved it wrong and talked to Nathan anyway.

A drunk, that's what Ephraim told her he was. She knew when they were younger and Nathan had a problem he tended to push everyone away, but a drunk, she just couldn't believe it. Sure he drank at parties when he was in high school, but by senior year even that had pretty much stopped. She knew that he had stopped a lot of the partying and drinking for her, maybe it was because of her that he started again as well.

So she made the decision to be brave. Grabbing her jacket on the way out, she locked the door and climbed into her car. Pulling out she drove to Nathans, the way cemented in her mind from the night she dropped Ollie home. She parked on the road and walked up the drive so that there was no way for her to be able to just drive away if she panicked.

She knocked on the door, from the inside she heard someone excitedly call "Shes here!" to the others in the house. A second later the door whooshed open and there stood Ollie.

Haley smiled at her, "Hey Ollie"

Ollie gave her a dirty, hateful look then slammed the door in her face.

Haleys heart fell, at that moment she knew her daughter knew about and was definitely no longer Haley James' biggest fan. Even though she had expected it to be like this, it still stung.

The door swung back open and revealed Nathan standing there.

"What do you want Haley?" His voice was hard and annoyed fury burned in his eyes that refused to meet hers.

"To talk." She said meekly fiddling with her keys nervously. He seemed angry but not drunk, that was good.

"We have nothing to talk about." He spat the fury evident in his voice.

"Please, I just want to explain myself." Her eyes started to run under his glare full of hatred

"Well I don't want to hear it." His voice rose increasingly.

"Nathan please just ..." she started to beg, the tears silently running from her eyes

A car pulled up behind them into the drive cutting her off as Nathan turned to look, completely ignoring his wife falling apart right in front of him.

Ephraim and Ollie came to the door just as a woman stepped out of the car.

"Brooke!" Ollie excitedly called as she ran over and hugged the women who wrapped her arms tightly around the younger girl. Ollie deliberately exaggerated her pleasure and excitement to see Brooke, knowing that Haley was watching and that it would probably hurt her.

"Hey Mom" Ephraim grinned also hugging his mom.

Haley watched them seeing how happy they all were, even Nathans expression changed from the one of pure hate he had with her to a happier one as he left her on the porch crying, to greet his friends. She saw him hug Brooke and in a manly but affectionate way greet Chase, who was now chatting to the kids and pulling bags from the trunk. She knew that she would be a part of this had she stayed.

"Well, if it isn't the Tutorwhore." Brooke stated purposefully rude, approaching her with Chase, Nathan and Ephraim following carrying a load of bags. Ollie who stood not far behind them smirked nastily, quite happy for Haley to be insulted.

Haley smiled weakly, stubbornly brushing away her tears trying not to show how hurt she was "Hi Brooke. I... I'm gonna go, Nathan, can we please talk sometime?"

"No." He said bluntly and spitefully before stepping inside after everyone else. "Bye Dan", He spat at her.

Then, for the second time that day the front door got slammed right in her face.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Lucas and Nathan stood looking out over the yard. On the grass two of Luke's kids Penny and Larry were with Ephraim running around with a soccer ball, both the children faces were filled with laughter, completely oblivious to the all the troubles in the world.

"I can't believe we are actually letting Ephraim teach them soccer", Lucas stated wryly.

"I know", Nathan agreed.

Both shared the same view as Ollie when it came to soccer, neither could really see why it appealed to Ephraim when Nathan had always played basketball with him as a kid.

"The kids are even enjoying it and their meant to be Scott's" Luke chuckled incredulously; no Scott had played anything other than basketball ever so far as he knew.

Chase appeared next to them with a smirk on his face. "Soccer's great isn't it? Rai's gotten pretty good too."

The two rolled their eyes playfully at him.

In High School, Nathan and Lucas hadn't been too close with Chase. When he had arrived in senior year, they never really got to know each other. But now they were all good friends despite not having overly much in common.

Everyone was over at Luke and Peyton's for a big family dinner. They had come over as soon as the bags had been taken inside, Brooke eager and excited as ever to see everyone, despite Nathan being a bit mad after seeing Haley, he calmed dow ok though.

Ephraim, Penny and Larry were outside, Nathan, Luke and Chase were watching them, Ollie and Elise were in the lounge and Peyton and Brooke were in the kitchen.

"So, how long are you and Brooke planning to stay, Chase?" Luke asked him.

"Well considering we own the company we can pretty much stay here as long as we like so I'm not too sure".

Brooke and Chase owned the fashion line Clothes over Bros. Brooke managed the clothing side and Chase the finances. They did have people to run it for them though meaning they could come home if they needed to.

Chase pulled opened the door, nodding to Nathan and Luke, the smirk still on his face then ran out to play with his stepson and the kids.

Luke turned and leaned against the wall to face Nathan. "So she came to see you today, to talk?"

"Yeah" Nathan muttered absently looking in the opposite direction of Lucas, not wanting to talk about it.

"I'm not going to lie to you Nate. She came round here the other day, we talked. She seems sorry and just as broken as you are. I think you need to at least give her a chance."

Nathan just shook his head angrily still refusing to look at his brother.

* * *

"That singer you like came round here the other day", Elise Scott said conversationally to her older cousin not really knowing anything about the Haley situation. "It was strange. She wanted to talk to dad, they were all serious and stuff."

Ollie's curiosity peaked, wanting to know what other horrible thing Haley had probably done, "Did you hear what they said?"

"Well dad made me go upstairs but my room's right above where they were so I could hear everything pretty well."

Turning down the volume on the TV they were watching, Ollie's eyes lit up, wanting to know what was said between her uncle and mother. She turned over to lie on her stomach so she was facing her cousin. "What'd they say?"

"I could hear her crying and dad comforting her. Then dad was talking about me, Pen and Larry but he does that with everyone," she rolled her eyes. "But then they started talking about you. It was real strange. They sounded like they were getting real emotional and all, and that's about it." Elise shrugged.

"Did your dad say anything after she left?" Ollie wanted details.

"Not really, just that he used to know her. Why do you reckon she was so curious about you?"

"I have no idea." Ollie lied; she wasn't ready for people to know that the great Haley James was her mother just yet, and living in somewhere like Tree Hill, that news would travel pretty quickly.

Seeing that neither of them really had anything else to say on the topic, Ollie turned the TV back up. She hadn't known her uncle had been close to Haley; it made her wonder who else had been hurt when her she left.

The door opened and Brooke entered, walking with her usual bounce in her step.

"Hey Ells your mom wants you." Brooke grinned to Elise who got up and went into the kitchen groaning a little knowing that she was probably being summoned for chores.

Brooke laughed and took a seat next to Ollie on the couch.

"So, you and my son got together yet?" Brooke joked. When they were little kids she'd always had a fantasy that Ollie and Ephraim would get married and everyone would be one big family.

"Eww", Ollie looked at Brooke wondering where the question had come from, "He's practically my brother." She had no idea how much that statement was just like something Haley had said years ago. Brooke noticed the uncanny -ness of it but brushed it off.

"Oh well, you'd be so cute together though."

Ollie rolled her eyes and laughed scrunching up her nose, "That'd be like you hooking up with dad".

Brooke shrugged "Well actually in high school... " she didn't deny it knowing in high school that her and Nathan had indeed hooked up.

"Gross Brooke" Ollie shuddered laughing as she covered her ears.

Chuckling at the girls antics, Brooke pulled her hands away from her ears, "Don't worry I wont give you nightmares" Brooke joked.

"Too late."

Ollie knew that Brooke was just winding her up but the thought of her dad with, well anyone just seemed strange to her. She had never known him to have a girlfriend. As far as she knew, the last person he was with was probably Haley.

"So, how you holding up buddy?" Brooke asked her.

"Alright". Ollie knew what Brooke was asking about and didn't want to talk about it.

"Come on, we tell each other everything, remember." They both chuckled remembering when Ollie was younger and the two talked about absolutely everything. Well what was appropriate to talk with a young kid about.

Ollie rolled her eyes good naturedly, "I'm not a little kid anymore Brooke."

"I know, I didn't say you were."

"I'm fine Brooke" Ollie told her convincingly hoping she wouldn't push it.

"Ok, but when you're ready to talk about it, so am I. Oh, and not that I don't love the whole Brooke Adams hair look you've got going on, but don't stop being you just because of her."

Ollie was shocked. Somehow Brooke could always read her. "How'd you know?"

A small but sad smile passed over Brookes face, "Trust me kid, I know exactly what's it like to want to be nothing like your mother. Remember Victoria." Brooke said talking about her own mother.

"Yeah" Ollie said wryly knowing exactly what Brooke meant. "So, what's up with Tutorwhore?"

Brooke laughed mysteriously, "Oh that, just something else from High School."

The dining table was crammed. At the head sat Lucas, to the side of the table on the right were Larry, Peyton, Penny and Brooke. On the tables left side sat Elise, Ollie, Ephraim and Chase. Nathan sat opposite him at the foot of the table. While dining with the last generation of Scott's, including Royal and Dan hadn't been a very pleasant experience that usually ended with someone storming from the table, that wasn't the case with the new large eclectic mix of Scott's, Davis' and Adams' that were now gathered around Luke and Peyton's table.

Everyone was chattering with someone as they ate their homemade roast.

Chase and Nathan talked of the Ravens who Nathan had returned to coaching the day before. Ephraim and Ollie listened as little Larry, who in an excited childlike way, told them a story of how he'd saved some worms in the garden today from the hose, ecstatic to have the big kids listening to him. Lucas and Elise, who had inherited his love of reading, chattered about the latest book she was reading. Peyton sat laughing as Brooke gushed over Penny who was a little girly girl, just like Brooke was at heart.

There were no arguments, no fights at this table tonight, Nathan was avoiding Lucas but that was all. Probably because everyone knew better than to bring up the dark cloud that was currently hanging over their heads. The cloud that left 15 years ago and only recently returned to rain on their happiness.

* * *

Meanwhile, that particular dark cloud that they happened to be avoiding speaking about back at the Scott house sat on the wharf near the river court.

Haley felt like shit. She knew that it would probably be better to avoid this place, the place where she fell in love with Nathan. But even though it hurt to come to this wharf and to the river court, she kept coming back.

In her hand she fiddled with two things. The first was her wedding ring. Even though the paparazzi had never found out about the ring, it had never left her, whether around her neck on a chain or on one of her other fingers. She'd had it with her every time she performed, everywhere she went. Not once had she ever even thought about taking it off.

The second thing she held was new, something she only got given recently. It was also from a Scott brother, but not the one she was married to, the other one, Lucas. It was a photo of a young girl and her father, both wearing party hats smiling into the camera.

From the scene earlier that day, Haley knew for sure that Ollie knew and hated her, as did Nathan. But she still loved them and Haley James Scott never gave up on something she loved.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

The sun shined down on Ollie as she sat at an outside table at school. It was her free period and she was taking advantage of it by doing some English homework. She was a good student, but had had to work hard to keep her grades up recently because of all the current distractions in her life and the lack of quiet at home with two more people than usual living there. Not many of her friends had this period free and those who had took off home as soon as the bell went, but Ollie was enjoying the quiet sunshine.

Glancing up around the quad she noticed a few people milling around talking and some others studying like her.

"Hey Ollie. Mind if I sit?"

She turned and saw one of her dad's players smiling and gesturing to the table she was at.

"Hey Duncan" she said gesturing for him to sit.

Since her dad was the coach, Ollie went to a lot of the Ravens games and practices so she knew most of the players pretty well. Some were typical jocks and treated everyone like they were above them, but Duncan was nice and they talked sometimes even though his cheerleader girlfriend hated it.

"Your mates go home too?" he asked her.

She nodded closing her book to talk to him.

"What'd you stick around for?"She asked, usually the basketballers all left and went to the river court to shoot around.

"I've gotta get my grades up if I want to graduate, figured I should do some study." Duncan was in his senior year.

Ollie nodded as he opened his books and started to work. She went back to her own work.

A few minutes later she heard Duncan say, "Ollie?"

She looked up, "Yeah?"

"Can you please help me with this?"

"Uh, yeah sure."

She scooted round the table so that she was close enough to see what he needed help with. Even though she was a sophomore and it was senior work, she knew that she could probably help him with it.

However across the quad, unbeknownst to Ollie and Duncan, stood a very jealous looking cheerleader. Fuming as she saw Olivia Scott slide round the bench to end up leaning right next to her boyfriend. No one was allowed to get that close to that particular basketball player, except for herself.

* * *

The ringing of the bell, shook Haley out of her daydream and she glanced around seeing her class who had been working quietly packing up. The students, filed out the door, most still shy around her because of the whole fame thing but some said goodbye as they left the classroom.

When everyone was gone she slumped back into her chair with a thankful sigh. The day was finally over. No more teenagers asking for autographs or people staring. At least until tomorrow anyway, and it was only Tuesday. She wandered round the room putting up any of the chairs the students had left down and picking up rubbish. Checking that the instrument locker had everything accountable for, she locked it. Flopping back down into herseat, she could finally relax and wait until the corridors cleared of all the teenagers at their lockers, so she could go home.

After a while the sounds of people in the corridors died down. Grabbing her bag and stuffing her things inside she left the class leaving the door unlocked behind her for the cleaners. She headed down the corridor seeing the trophy cabinet that still held a photo of Nathan with Lucas and Whitey from just after state championships next to the glimmering trophy. Pausing she looked at the contents of the cabinet just for a second with a small smile on her face before continuing on her way out of the hall.

As she neared the car park she heard the sound of a girl shouting.

* * *

"Oi Scott." Lauren Burgess, the cheerleader who happened to be dating Duncan called out to Ollie across the field.

The bell had just gone signalling the end of the day and Lauren had made sure that she would be ready and waiting when Olivia Scott exited the school. She was not going to let Olivia think that she could flirt with Duncan and get away with it. Ollie stopped and turned looking for who had called out to her. Lauren furiously marched toward her.

"Stay away from my boyfriend slut." Lauren accused Ollie angrily shoving her backward roughly.

Lauren towered over her; Ollie was tiny compared to the well built cheerleader, even from all her basketball playing. She also knew that Lauren had a tendency to get violent, and that if this turned into a fight, Ollie wouldn't have a chance.

"What? I haven't been near Duncan."Ollie hoped Lauren would leave it at that.

"Don't lie to me bitch, I saw you on the quad."

"We were just talking", silently she cursed in her head that they had been seen, because even though her and Duncan had just been talking, that wasn't how it would have looked to some one like Lauren who never 'just talked' to guys.

"I saw how close you were to him" Lauren shouted furiously, this being the shout that Haley heard from the car park.

"I was helping him study, you're the one that cheats, not him or me," Ollie's voice now raised too, forgetting about being beaten up because she was so angry of being accused, by Lauren who slept with pretty much anything that moved, of making a move on Duncan.

The bigger girl's fist collided hard with Ollie's face sending her flying to the ground. People who saw the punch all ran over and gathered around them in a ring, typical to high school fights. Ollie tried to defend herself but Lauren was angry and didn't take well to being accused of cheating, even if it was true.

"Oi Break it up." Haley had run over at the sound of the first shout, only to see a mass of people gathered around two people she presumed were fighting. Remarks like 'catfight' and hooting were coming from the spectators. When they saw her though, the teacher, they dispersed not wanting to get in any trouble themselves.

Haley recognized the girl who was clearly winning as Lauren Burgess, a girl from one of her classes. The other was shielding her face from the much taller Lauren while still trying to fight back, and failing.

"Lauren, stop." She pulled her off the other girl and angrily with authority said. "See the principle first thing tomorrow morning. You cannot use violence against other students at this school. Now go home, I'll be ringing your parents about this."

Lauren glared at her before taking off, pissed about getting caught; she thought Ollie had deserved it anyway.

The girl Lauren had been attacking was covered in mud from being pushed over onto the field. She was frantically gathering up her books, wanting to be anywhere but here.

"Are you Ok?" Haley asked her.

She turned noticing for the first time that it was Haley and Haley noticing it was Ollie.

Ollie flinched away from Haley, glaring at her somewhat ashamed and embarrassed for losing the fight, "I'm fine." She spat.

"No you're not, you're bleeding." Haley's voice was laced with worry.

"Like you care" she snapped

Blood was pouring out of Ollie's nose as well as from a deep gash on her lower lip. Ollie frustratedly wiped the blood away, but the flow did not stop.

Haley chose to ignore that comment, "I have a first aid kit in my classroom, come on."

"No I'm fine." Ollie shouted, grabbing her bag and storming off in the opposite direction.

Haley didn't know what to do. She couldn't let her own daughter, let alone any student wander off bleeding from the face. So she called out the first thing that came to her. "I'll call your father then."

Ollie froze. She couldn't let Haley do that. Partly because she knew that her father would be furious at her for fighting and also because she knew he couldn't handle being near Haley. So, she turned and followed Haley into the class glaring stubbornly at the ground the entire way.

Once in the room, Ollie silently went to the sink and washed the dirt and dried blood from her face. The flow from her nose had stopped, but it still hurt. She just hoped it wasn't broken. She could feel Haley's gaze on her back and it made her very uncomfortable. When she turned from the sink, she saw Haley quickly look away into the first aid kit.

She pulled out some gauze cloth and petroleum jelly. Dampening the cloth she handed it to Ollie. The girls hand was shaking, she noticed as it brushed against her own to take the cloth. As soon as their hands made contact, Ollie snatched her hand away with the cloth as if she had been burned.

Still neither said anything.

Holding the cold damp cloth to her lip, she felt the pain ease a little from the coolness of the cloth. She sat down at one of the desks holding the cloth as steadily as she could to her lip. Haley came over and kneeled next to her.

"Let me look at your nose" her voice was gentle; she could tell that in a way Ollie was terrified of her.

"No", Ollie's voice shook.

"It could be broken."

Wordlessly Ollie lowered her shaking hand and allowed Haley to examine her nose. She winced, only partly from pain when Haley squeezed the bridge of her nose to see if there were any breaks.

"I think it's Ok." Haley told her. "Put some of this on your lip". She squeezed some petroleum jelly onto Ollie's finger.

Ollie looked down at it uncertainly; she didn't trust Haley at all, "What is it?"

"Petroleum Jelly, it will stop the bleeding."

Ollie rubbed it on her lip and stood as she saw Haley packing away the first aid. She threw her bag over her shoulder and threw the gauze cloth in the bin.

"Thanks", she muttered, quite spitefully but still semi gratefully as she went to walk out the door.

"Ollie?" Haley called just before she left. "Can I give you a ride home?"

"No"

Haley's eyes grew sad, "Please?"

And at that moment Ollie actually felt enough compassion for Haley to slowly nod her head.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Brooke swung open the door, seeing Ollie getting out of the car that had just pulled into the driveway.

"Hey, Ollie, finally, where have you been? Karen rang and said you didn't show up ... Wait, what happened to your lip?" She said pausing as she noticed the cut.

She then saw the driver of the car getting out as well.

"Oh my god Haley! You hit her?" She accused glaring shocked at Haley.

"No Brooke! Of course I didn't hit her." Haley looked at her like she was crazy.

"Oh right", she realised she was being a little ridiculous and that even though Haley wasn't up for mother of the year award or anything, it was pretty unlikely for her to hit someone. "What happened then?"

"A cheerleader punched me because she thought I was hitting on her boyfriend." Ollie said bluntly knowing Brooke wouldn't tell Nathan.

"Yeah that makes sense" Brooke shrugged remembering her days as a cheerleader. "You're alright though?"

Ollie nodded and rolled her eyes. People seemed to ask her that a lot lately

"Good. Oh, Karen wants you to call her."

"Ok why?

"You missed work"

"Crap" Ollie muttered as she ran inside to call Karen. She had completely forgotten about work. Brooke followed her inside, leaving the front door wide open.

Haley watched silently as they both disappeared inside, she hadn't said anything during the exchange between Ollie and her godmother. She found it quite funny that Ollie worked for Karen, just like she herself had at that age.

The door was open so she wasn't sure whether to follow Brooke in or to just leave. She knew it was Nathans house, and neither he nor Ollie wanted her there. But Ollie _had_ let her drop her home. Not knowing exactly what to do she stayed exactly where she was.

* * *

Inside, Brooke heard Ollie on the phone; Ollie was saying something along the lines of getting hit in the face with a volleyball in gym. Brooke chuckled remembering similar stories she herself had told her various bosses when she was in high school and had missed work.

She plopped down in a seat in the lounge and then out of the corner of her eye she noticed that Haley's car was still in the driveway. Puzzled, she stood and went back out to the front door, she saw Haley standing in the exact same place as she had been a few minutes ago when they had all still been outside.

"Haley what're you doing?" Brooke called from the doorway.

Haley looked up at her with an intense look of sad realisation in her eyes, "I don't know Brooke, I have no idea." And that was the truth; she did have no idea what she was doing right now, or what she had been doing for the past 15 years and she had only just realised it. She was completely lost in her own life.

Brooke sighed, hearing the defeated tone of her voice. "Come in then."

Wide eyed Haley looked up at Brooke, shocked at being invited inside. Brooke had been so hostile before and now she was inviting her into Nathans house. Nodding, Haley quickly walked inside before Brooke changed her mind and threw her out back into the strangers life that actually was her own.

* * *

Practice had just finished and the boys had all left to go home. Where he had been coaching, Nathan knew nothing of the fight between his daughter and the cheerleader, because he had been inside the gym for the duration of the fight.

Everyone in his team had been curious as to where he had been lately and why the deputy coach Wilson had taken them for a lot of the last few weeks practices and games without him. He had simply told them he had been too sick with the flu to make it. While he could tell they hadn't believed him, they were all too scared of the thought of doing extra suicides to push the subject further.

Sitting in his office where he was now, he watched the game play from last week's game. Wilson did a good job on strategies and the team had managed a victory in every game except one while he had been gone. The Ravens game had been up at practice since he had come back to work too.

Nathan glanced up when he saw the door to his office open and Wilson entered, dropping into the second chair at the desk.

"Hey Nate."

Nathan paused the game video and turned to him. Wilson was about 24 and very dedicated to coaching. He was going to be a great head coach someday, Nathan could tell.

"Hi Wilson, what's up?" He asked stretching back in his chair comfortably

"Just figured I better tell you bout the itinerary change for the Herons Beach tournament weekend. Final games changed to Monday at 4:00 instead of 1:00 so we will arrive back about a couple of hours later than planned. I told the team last week while you were away."

"Ok, that's fine, 4 o'clocks good." Nathan nodded as did Wilson who stood ready to leave. "Wait, Wilson? Herons Beach isn't this weekend is it?" He asked already knowing the worst.

"Yup we leave Friday remember." Wilson nodded perkily poking his head back into the office not noticing Nathans hopeful tone that he would say no.

"Right, Thanks Wilson."

The door closed behind his co coach.

"Shit", Nathan muttered sinking his head into his hands and groaning.

He had completely forgotten about the tournament until now and he was not looking forward to it. Under normal circumstances a weekend away would have been completely fine even though it was a long weekend and schools had Monday off. But with everything that had happened with his drinking period and with Haley, he really didn't want to leave Ollie. Sure she had Brooke and Chase at the house so she wouldn't need to go and stay with Lucas and Peyton or a friend like she usually did when he went away, but he still wasn't completely sure how well she was taking everything. Since finding out about Haley, she hadn't sang or played music once, things that used to be regular things for her, he also knew her grades were dropping and she hardly seen her friends much in the past two weeks. She even continued to dye her hair dark brown like Brookes.

It had been about a month since Haley's return and Nathan still had yet to talk to her. He knew that Peyton and Lucas had let her back in to their lives and their kids lives, but he couldn't do that. Brooke however shared his opinion of Haley. And Ollie, she was just plain confused and angry about everything that was going on.

So, even though he knew it was going to be hard to leave Ollie, even though she was still so messed up inside from everything going on, he knew he had to, he had a responsibility to his them. It was his job.

Sighing, knowing that there was nothing, he prepared to head home.

* * *

Brooke led her into the kitchen, praying that Nathan wouldn't get home anytime soon and see Haley there.

"You want a drink or anything?" Brooke asked, figuring she should try and be polite.

"No thanks" Haley took a seat at the breakfast bar.

There was an awkward silence which Haley decided she had to be the one to break it.

"I came back here 12 years ago." She blurted out.

Brooke's eyes widened and she stared at Haley, "What?" she practically yelled.

"Ollie was three and I was allowed to come home. I didn't know where they lived so I just drove around, looking, hoping they stayed in Tree Hill. When I was driving past the river court, I... I saw them. They looked so happy. Brooke, I couldn't ruin that, I didn't want to take away their happiness by coming back." Haley felt her cheeks become wet as she finally told the memory that anyone but Brooke had yet to hear.

Brooke couldn't make sense of what she'd had just heard. Shaking her head and running her hand through her hair she noticed Haley crying. She was speechless and couldn't believe how stupid Haley was to think her returning twelve years ago would be more damaging to Nathan and Ollie than returning now was. But in a way she also understood that Haley believed time would make things better. So she just shook her head. There was one thing that caught in her mind though, one small detail that made absolutely no sense to her at all. Her head stilling, she looked up at Haley, her eyebrows knotted, trying to think what Haley could mean. So Brooke just asked.

"What do you mean by 'allowed to come home' Haley?"


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"What do you mean by 'allowed to come home' Haley?"

Haley froze, she knew the question was coming, Lucas and Peyton avoided asking her why she left and didn't come back, they understood that she felt Nathan had to hear it from her first. But no matter how hard she had tried since she had been back, Nathan still wouldn't listen or even give her a chance to explain. Maybe it really was best to just come clean to someone, anyone. And right now, it was Brooke that was asking.

She braced herself and began, her voice was quiet as she started to talk and Brooke was hanging onto her every word waiting to finally hear Haley's excuses.

"Well it was the end of senior year..."

_**Haley watched as Nathan threw for the net and sunk yet another shot. He was fully back on his game from the last few, just in time for state championships. She knew about the point shaving and why he had to do it and she was thrilled that he had seen the light and decided to help the team win this game for the team, for Lucas, for Whitey and for their unborn daughter. **_

_**Being pregnant and this close to birth she couldn't cheer down n the floor with the rest of the cheerleaders, so she sat in the crowd watching the game intently. Dragging her gaze from the game she glanced up around the spectators, Daunte was nowhere to be seen, nor were any of his thugs. For that she thanked god. Daunte's presence was one she most definitely hadn't missed, especially with the baby on the way. Nobody had seen him in Tree Hill since the last game which the Ravens almost lost due to Nathan purposely playing terribly to try and pay back their debts. She just hoped he wouldn't return anytime soon.**_

_**The Ravens continued to pull ahead in the game as it approached the final buzzer. When it sounded, great applause and insane cheering broke out among the crowd in the gym. Looking over at Whitey she saw tears of joy in his eyes and Lucas slapping him on the back before running to join the rest of the ecstatic team who were jumping and cheering, embracing each other and the people pouring off the bleachers.**_

_**Then Nathan stood right in front of her a massive grin covering his face and a victorious glint in his eye. She grinned back up at him, his happiness radiating onto her. He leaned into her and she rose onto her tiptoes. Their lips crashed into each others both forgetting they were in the gym and feeling alone in this perfect moment together. They broke apart, their gaze lingering on each other before joining their friends who were all equally as stoked as they were. Lucas and Peyton were caught up in each other, finally getting their act together and showing their feelings for each other. Brooke was excitedly jumping up and down hugging everyone that neared her and screaming ecstatically. Bevin and Skillz, Mouth and Rachel, everyone was so happy in their victory...**_

Haley paused for a second at the end of the joyful memory from so long ago, she noticed Brooke smiling slightly at the memory too.

Still with a slight smile, Brooke said a little lost, "I don't really see what his has to do with anything Haley. I remember the game too; nothing happened to make you need to leave."

"Let me finish, please."

Brooke nodded as a signal for her to go ahead.

_**Graduation had gone perfectly. All their friends graduated and Haley as valedictorian had said her speech just as her water broke. Nathan had called the ambulance and they rushed to hospital to welcome their beautiful baby girl into the world.**_

_**Exhausted she lay in the bed, the doctors had taken the little baby to do a check up to make sure everything was okay with her before they could be allowed to take her home. Nathan sat on the side of her bed softly stroking her hair.**_

"_**Go to sleep baby, your tired. You did so good. I'll wake you up when they bring her back." He whispered to her lovingly.**_

"_**Promise?" **_

_**He kissed her softly on the forehead, "Promise."**_

_**Closing her eyes she let the rhythm of Nathans stroking hand lull her contentedly into a light sleep. **_

"_**Haley? Baby?" She woke with a start, fretting immediately wondering where the baby was and if it was ok. **_

_**She looked up to where Nathan had been gently nudging her awake, the baby was in his arms wrapped in a pink blanket with her eyes tightly closed. Nathan bent down and placed the baby in Haley's arms, letting her down very softly.**_

"_**The doctors just brought her back. They said everything's perfect." He told Haley who let out a sigh of happiness and relief that there were no complications.**_

"_**Good. We did it Nate," Then to the baby she said in a babyish voice while rocking her. "We're going home tomorrow bubs."**_

_**Nathan grinned at the though of taking them home, speaking of which, "Hales, I have to go get the nursery ready for tomorrow." He said, not wanting to leave**_

"_**Will you come back when you're done?" She asked hoping he would say yes and stay in the hospital with them.**_

"_**Of course, I'll be right back" He smiled down at her before bending and planting a soft kiss on her lips and then one on his daughter's forehead. Then reluctantly he left the room not wanting to miss anything.**_

"_**That was daddy baby." She cooed down at the little girl who gurgled a little.**_

_**Everyone had rushed into the room just after she had been delivered. The babies god parents Lucas and Brooke, along with Peyton, Deb, Lydia, Jimmy and Karen , everybody had seen her, so Haley was somewhat surprised when the door to her room swung open. The person was wearing a hood and at first she couldn't see who it was until he drew back the fabric covering his face. Fearfully she drew her daughter closer to her chest, knowing that she had to protect her from the man.**___

"_**Ms Scott." He said in a cold greeting. His evil eyes staring at her baby.**_

"_**Daunte",Her voice broke a bit out of fear and she tried to reach for the button to call the nurse.**_

"_**I don't think that's such a good idea Ms Scott." She snapped her hand back and wrapped the arm tighter around the baby knowing that Daunte knew she had been reaching for the button.**_

"_**Why are you here?" she asked.**_

_**He smirked, "Well, I'm sure you know by now about the little deal I had with your husband."**_

_**She nodded.**_

"_**Well, he hasn't exactly kept up his end of it and I don't take well to being cheated." Daunte's voice was icily evil. **_

"_**Yes he did, he shaved the points in the semi final game." Her voice was shaking, she didn't feel safe with him here.**_

_**Daunte chuckled dark and sarcastically, "That came up a little short for my liking, if count interest, which I of course do.**_

"_**We paid you back. There's no more we can give you."**_

_**His eyes narrowed, "Now that's where I have to disagree Ms Scott. Because you see, I came here with a little generous offer for you."**_

"_**I don't want anything you have to give." Haley spat.**_

"_**You don't really have much of a choice." He ran a finger menacingly over the babies cheek. "Wouldn't it be horrible for something to happen to such a sweet little baby or your hotshot husband for that matter Ms Scott?"**_

"_**Stay away from them." She cried, her voice shaking from the shock of what he was proposing.**_

"_**I think that's up to you."**_

_**She tried to comprehend what he was saying, find a way out of everything he was saying. She couldn't see anything but to ask weakly, "What do you want from me?"**_

"_**Simple," he smirked knowing she was under his control."I have connections at a record company and I believe the world wouldn't be opposed to a Haley James comeback. The tour money should cover your debt"**_

"_**I can't," she faltered. "I won't leave them."**_

"_**It's only three years, then I will consider your debts paid. Some might even say I'm doing you a favour offering you this opportunity."**_

"_**But.."**___

_**He cut her off, "you have three days to decide, thats enough to recover from the birth, there will be a car to pick you up that night." He pulled his hood back on so no one would see him in the hospital corridor and headed toward the door. "oh, and I trust you have the sense to keep this just between us."**_

_**With that he threw a disdainful look toward the baby and swept out of the room.**_

_**Everything he had said had terrified her. There was no way she could let Daunte hurt the two people who meant the world to her, but that meant she had to leave the, and if she did that, how could she ever come back for knowing they would hate her. But she knew she didn't have a choice. Staring down at her and Nathans tiny little girl, she got lost, knowing to make the best of the short time she had left with them.**_

_**She had no idea how long she sat there just staring with so much love at the baby and before she knew it Nathan returned with a disposable camera in tow, without a clue of what had gone on while he was gone.**_

"Brooke, I left because Daunte was going to hurt them, and I didn't come back three years later because I would have hurt them even more." Haley finished passionately tears lacing her eyes and horrible pain in her heart.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Brooke sat silently staring numbly at Haley, completely surprised by what she had just heard; she had always assumed that Haley ran because she wanted to follow her own dream rather than being tied down with the responsibility of having a husband and child so young. Knowing that Haley left to save her family rather than destroy them made the situation completely different. Also, she could tell that Haley was telling the truth. One little fact still confused her though

Pityingly Brooke said, "Haley I get everything with Daunte, and I'm sorry it happened, I really am. But if you couldn't come back 12 years ago, why could you now?"

Haley looked up from the spot on the floor that had held her gaze for the entire story and looked directly into Brookes eyes. "Because I couldn't take it anymore Brooke, everyday I woke up and the only thing I thought about was them. Not being able to see them for even just a second nearly killed me. I know it's selfish but I couldn't help it".

Brooke nodded, the intensity of Haley's gaze was hard to hold, "Have you told Nathan everything yet?"

Haley shook her head, "No, he's refused to talk to me other than that day you arrived. You're the first person I have ever told"

"Oh," Brooke felt completely numb, "what about Daunte, where's he now?"

"He's gone; I haven't laid eyes on him since he got the last of his money and I hope I never do see him again."

"Good", she noticed Haley's eyes float back down to look at the floor, reaching out and taking Haley's hand in her own, Brooke sent her a small reassuring dimpled smile, "Don't worry tutorgirl, you don't need to worry if you have Brooke Adams helping you."

Haley looked at her questioningly.

"That right, I have a plan" Brooke said and a small smile came onto Haleys face.

"What sort of plan?"

"You'll just have to wait and see" Hearing the noise of a motor outside, Brooke glanced out the window and saw a car pulling in to the driveway. "Crap, thats Nathan."

Haley looked up at her panicked, "He can't find me here, he'll be furious."

"I know, follow me." They darted down the hall looking for somewhere to hide, there was a large open towel cupboard that would be more than large enough for her, and that Nathan was unlikely to open. "Hide in there, I'll let you out once you can leave without him seeing you."

Haley nodded and quikly stepped into the cupboard, bumping into the person who had the cupboard open in the first place to get out a towel. But before she could do anything, Brooke closed the door and left them trapped with no clue that Haley wasn't the only one inside.

* * *

Brooke walked into the kitchen where Nathan was chucking his keys onto the counter having just entered the house, "Hey Nate" she said perkily hoping he wouldn't see through her.

"Hi" he smiled at her. "Whose here?"

"No-one" she said perhaps a little too quickly. "Why do you ask?" She asked casually trying to distract from her previous suspicious way of answering.

He looked at her strangely, "Theres a car in the drive."

Crap, Brooke thought, she had completely forgotten about Haley's car, at least he didn't recognize it though. Haley had always parked on the road, apart from the first time, when Nathan had been too drunk to remember the car type.

"Oh that's Ephraim's friend's car. He just got his permit so he drove here." Brooke lied coming up with her answer on the spot. What surprised her was that he believed her and didn't ask her anything else, even though she thought it was fairly obvious that she was lying. Instead he pulled something to eat out of the fridge and settled at the counter to read the paper. Meaning he unknowingly had perfect view of anyone who happened to be trying to make there escape from the house via the hall.

* * *

"Ow!" Ollie muttered as she felt someone's elbow push into sending her deeper into the towel cupboard, just as the door shut completely, trapping her, and the light from outside disappeared completely apart from the small crack of light from the cracks at the top and bottom of the door. "Who's in here and why did you lock us in?" she asked accusingly squinting to try, but fail to see.

Haley immediately recognised Ollies voice, "Umm it's Haley, your dad came home so Brooke hid me in here. We didn't know anyone was in here" she answered quietly but awkwardly, this sure was an uncomfortable place to be, considering neither had a way of getting out.

"Oh great" Ollie huffed sarcastically and sat down on the ground, not calling for anyone to let them out for Brooke and her dad's sake but also choosing not to initiate any conversation with Haley even if they were trapped in here together.

Feeling Ollie sit down, Haley figured she might as well too considering she had no clue how long they would be in here. In the cupboard, while there was enough room for both of them to sit, there knees were touching. Haley could tell that this made Ollie even more uncomfortable as she wouldn't stop squirming to try and avoid contact. Eventually Ollie gave up and stopped, her knees stilling. Then after what seemed like forever of them both just sitting there in silence, Ollie was the one to actually break it

She didn't use the angry stubborn tone that Haley was used to, instead her voice was small and overwhelmed, sad, and it reminded Haley that really Ollie was just a child, innocently caught up in the middle of this nightmare, "Why didn't you want me Haley?"

Haley was completely taken a back by the question, it had been the last thing she had thought Ollie would say and she had no idea how to answer it. "It's complicated Ollie." she told her tentatively.

"I heard some of what you told Brooke before." Ollie admitted. "And it isn't complicated. Even if you had to go, you could have called or visited, and then you could have come back after the 3 years and it wouldn't even be a problem." The anger was back in Ollie's voice, normally she would never be able to talk to Haley like this at all, but in a way the darkness of the cupboard seemed to be giving her confidence.

"You're right," Haley said, knowing that really Ollie was.

Ollie sniffled and Haley knew that she was getting upset, "Then why didn't you?"

"I guess I was just scared."

Ollie was silent, that had been exactly what her dad had said about the drinking, and she had forgiven him immediately, knowing that he had a fair reason and that even through his fear, he had never left her. She couldn't forgive Haley that easily.

"You were scared Haley? Well so was I. When I was just a baby and my dad was an alcoholic because of you leaving, and every mother's day when I had no-one to give the card we made at school to, and when I had my first boyfriend and could only tell my aunt, and when I found out that the person I had admired my whole life invited me into her home and lied to me about who she was, who I was. I was fucking terrified Haley." Ollie was sobbing from her outburst, never had she admitted to anyone the times when she had felt so alone due to being motherless, and now finally letting it out, she felt empty, free somehow and like the contact with Haley's knees was the only thing telling her this was real.

Guilt overwhelmed Haley, everything she had done assuming that she was making Ollie and Nathans life better had really made it worse for them. She reached over and pulled the girl into a hug, knowing that right now was also one of the times that the girl was terrified about. Ollie stiffened at her touch, but she didn't pull away either. Haley just whispered "I'm sorry." Over and over and over.

The second Brooke finally opened the door however; Ollie was gone, darting away from Haley, not able to face her without the safety of the blind darkness covering them. Her room's door, just down the hall shut just as soon as she reached the refuge of her room.

Brooke looked at Haley and noticed her red eyes. "Ollie was getting something from the cupboard when I shut you in wasn't she?"

Haley nodded grimly.

Brooke closed her eyes and sighed dejectedly, "Nathans in the bathroom. You can leave without him seeing if you hurry."

"Ok", Haley nodded equally as dejected.

"Hey Haley?" Brooke stopped her.

"Yeah?"

"I'll still help you if you want me to."

Haley nodded. "Thank you."

Then she quickly left the house and drove away, unsure whether the time spent alone with her daughter had a good result or whether it had pushed Ollie even further away. She just prayed Brooke had a good plan.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"Dad, do you have to go?" Ollie asked her father for like the thousandth time as she ate breakfast the morning that her dad was leaving to go with the Ravens to Herons Beach.

"Yup"

"Aww why cant Wilson just go?" she whined not wanting him to leave.

"Because I'm the coach", he said it as if it was a shocking revelation.

Giggling, she rolled her eyes at him.

"Besides Ollie, you'll have Brooke here all to yourself since Ephraim and Chase are going back to New York for the weekend."

"They're going too. So like nobody in town is going to be here this weekend?"

"No. Jess, Brooke, Luke and Peyt and stuff will be here." Nathan told her.

"Jess is going to Herons for cheerleading and Luke and Peyton are taking the kids to visit Peyton's dad." She pointed out to him. Before he would always have known if Lucas was going away, but since He and Peyton had gotten closer to Haley, Lucas and Nathan had seemed to talk less and less.

"It's only three days, then everyone will be back." He reassured her. She always tried to talk him out of it when he was going away which was fair enough considering.

"I guess." She sighed. "I have to go to school. Have fun." She said as she gave him a hug goodbye.

Padding down the hall she could hear a soft drum beat coming from Ephraim's room as she approached. She poked her head in the door.

Ephraim looked up from his drums, "Ready yet?" he asked her. He had been getting in some drumming while waiting for her to finish getting ready for school.

"Yup." She answered as he hopped up and grabbed his bag to follow her out of the house. "So, what was that you were playing?"

"Just a beat to some lyrics I wrote."

"Cool, it sounded great." She told him.

"It would sound better with a guitar over it," he looked at her suggestively. It hadn't gone unnoticed by him that she had yet to pick up a guitar in weeks and he didn't want her to give up on music completely.

"Yeah, you should get that guy Jeremy in our math class. He's really good." Ollie suggested, knowing that he meant herself but completely ignoring it.

"Ollie." He groaned.

"What? He is good." Ollie defended.

Ephraim rolled his eyes, "I know but... ugh never mind." He figured it wouldn't be him that would convince her to start to play again.

Satisfied that he decided to drop it, she asked, "So why are you going to New York this weekend?"

"Chase has some business stuff at the fashion line and I'm going to catch up with some of my mates from there. You know, have a guys weekend."

"So you're pretty much going there to watch sport and play video games?" She knew what went on at 'guy weekends' and that was about it.

"Yeah pretty much, oh, and to eat. We'll eat while watching and playing." He said chuckling.

"You're such a guy." She laughed as he shrugged.

"I know, its great right." He said cockily raising his eyebrow.

"Yeah sure, just keep telling yourself that buddy." She mocked him as she hit him on the arm.

"Oooh, Better watch it or you'll get another cut up lip." He joked, he found it quite amusing that she had got into a fight with a cheerleader.

"Oh yeah sure Rai, hit a girl. That's really chivalrous," She laughed knowing he didn't mean it. She smirked, "Lauren probably hit harder than you could anyways."

His jaw dropped in fake offended-ness, "That hurt Ollie" he said putting his hand over his heart.

She rolled her eyes, Ephraim always managed to make everything seem funny, even when it was a whole lot of bad stuff he was making light of. "I am so sorry Ephraim. I didn't mean to hurt your very masculine feelings." She apologised sarcastically.

He chuckled, "Yeah I think I can forgive you this time." He nodded thoughtfully as they arrived at the school.

Ollie nodded and glanced around the campus making sure Haley was no where in sight. Since Tuesday afternoon when all the stuff between them had been said, Ollie had been avoiding her completely. For, although some of the anger and hatred that she'd had faded, Ollie still didn't want to face Haley.

Seeing that the way was clear, the two headed into the school.

* * *

Around 12:30pm Nathan arrived at the school to herd together the team so the bus could leave in an hour, most of the teenagers were still in class as lunch period wasn't for an hour. He set off toward his office to meet Wilson and the team who no doubt would show up, pumped as ever, in the next half hour or so.

In the empty corridor, he strolled along toward his office, Whiteys old one that was attached to the boys locker room. As he walked, he could hear the sound of guitar coming from one of the wings classrooms. He slowed and came to a stop outside the door. Glancing in through the small window he saw Haley, sitting alone in the empty music class idly strumming the acoustic guitar on her knee. Quickly, he stepped back from the window, breathing a sigh of relief that she hadn't looked up at that moment and seen her.

Subtly so that even if she did look up, she still wouldn't see him, he peered in the small window at her. This was the first time he had let himself look at her, really look at her since her return. Also, since the day of Brooke's arrival, not one word had been exchanged between them. When he was at school to coach and he knew there were no classes on, he always took the back halls and long ways to avoid her.

She was hunched over the guitar softly strumming a slow tune. He noticed that she still looked much the same as she had before she left. Her hair was still its golden brown colour and still she was tiny. The small wrinkles on the forehead that people got when they aged were starting to softly appear. Only a little of her eyes could be seen where he was standing, he had missed her eyes and the honesty and love that always shone in them. Now all he saw in them was sadness and loss. To him though, everything about her was still breathtakingly beautiful.

Unwittingly, his hand rose slowly to the handle to rest gently around it. She had him mesmerized and he didn't notice what he was doing. But then a glint from her left hand caught his eye as the sun streaming through the window collided with it. Upon her left finger was the ring that he had given her, her wedding ring.

Roughly he drew his hand back from the door handle, suddenly horrified that deep down, he had wanted to enter. As he had pulled his hand back his sleeve snagged on the handle, causing it to twist down before jumping back into place with a snap. Hearing the sound, Haley looked up. For just a second, there eyes locked through the glass before Nathan abruptly stepped away and hurried off down the corridor.

Jumping from the seat, the guitar fell from her lapto the carpeted ground. Running to the door she excited the room and peered down the corridor to see only his back disappearing.

"Nathan?" she called down the hallway praying he would stop.

And he did, for barely a second he turned back around and looked directly his eyes burning with confusion but intense sad passion at her for the briefest moment before turning and continuing on away from her.

Once he was a safe distance away he glanced back behind his shoulder, he had thought for a second that when she had called out that she would follow him, but there was no one behind him no. Relieved, he approached and pushed open the coaching office door.

Sinking down into the swivel chair at his desk, he let his head drop into his hands and massage the stress away from his forehead. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why she would be wearing the weeding ring. Probably to taunt him and to rub everything in his face. Since she had left, there had been no one else for him, but he was sure there had for her so she had no right to be wearing the ring that signalled their connection. Digging his hand into his back pocket, he pulled out its remnants. In his hand lay his own gold band, which he also, never had put away. But now, seeing that even in her unfaithfulness, she still wore hers, he no longer wanted any association with his ring.

Yanking open the draw at his desk, he twirled it round in his hand once more before flinging it deep into the draw. It wobbled and then with a clunk settled at the bottom. With that he slammed the draw shut.

For the past 15 years, Nathan Scott hadn't been ready to move on, and even though, deep down he knew he still wasn't ready and probably never would be, he was going to move on anyway.


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Leaning against the counter, Brooke was tapping her foot impatiently holding the phone against her ear. She listened as it rang for the fourth time on the other end and then finally got picked up.

"Hello?" a groggy voice said from the other end.

"Tutorgirl?" Brooke whispered into the phone making sure it was Haley but also not wanting Ollie to hear them on the off chance she was awake and listening.

"Yeah Hi Brooke" Haley yawned into the phone. "Its 7:30 in the morning," she pointed out wondering whether Brooke was aware of the early hour in which she was calling.

"I know. Isn't it great?" Brooke said perkily, she always had been a bit of a morning person.

"Umm sure" Haley answered uncertainly not used to so much energy this early.

"Well anyway, the plan" Brooke carried on completely ignoring Haley's yawns. "Be at the mall at 10. I'll make sure Ollie and I bump into you, make it seem coincidental. She'll have no idea."

Haley groaned, "You're brilliant idea is shopping?"

"Yeah, its great right?" Brooke asked, incredibly proud of the plan she'd come up with. "Shopping solves everything." Just like in High School, Brooke was still obsessed with shopping and clothes.

"Right, Ok." Haley said uncertainly into the phone not really seeing how it was going to work but willing to try anyway. "I guess I'll see you at the mall then."

"Yep, trust me Haley it's gonna work." Brooke told her reassuringly. "See you there."

Hanging up the phone, Brooke grinned to herself, pleased to be giving both Haley and Ollie a little push toward each other. From Haley explaining what had happened with Daunte she now saw that Haley deserved a chance to be forgiven, mostly because none of this was really her fault anyway. She was also pretty sure that Ollie had heard at least the first part of the explanation also. But Ollie can't have heard about the plan to help Haley, because if she had, the young girl would probably have confronted Brooke about it, and as of yet, that hadn't happened.

After showering and getting ready herself, Brooke figured it was a late enough time to wake up Ollie. Being that she was a teenage girl, she wasn't going to appreciate being woken up on a Saturday morning, but she would get over it after a coffee.

Pushing open the door, she tiptoed quietly into Ollies room, noticing her still asleep figure wrapped up peacefully in the covers. Sleeping like this, she looked just like the happy little girl that she had been as a kid. Brooke loved her goddaughter like she was her own blood, this was why she was going to do everything she could to give Ollie the chance to have a normal complete family for a change. Because while Ollie would never say or show it, apart from the moment in the cupboard which Brooke had no idea about, it was obvious to her that Ollie had always noticed the role missing from her life. The gap that no matter how many people had tried to shrink, still remained gaping.

She took in the content and peaceful image for one more moment before jumping onto the bed and shaking Ollie awake.

"Ollie?" She called energetically bouncing on her knees up and down at the foot of the bed, "Time to get up."

Shuffling slightly under the covers, Ollie groaned into pillow, refusing to open her eyes.

"Ollie" Brooke called again shaking the girl.

"Mnn go away, wanna sleep." She murmured still keeping her eyes closed and her head down on the pillow.

"No you don't, were going shopping!"Brooke exclaimed to her excitedly.

Ollie opened her eyes with another groan and sat up briefly to glare at Brooke before flopping down onto her back. "Take Peyton." She said trying to get out of shopping. Going near any shops with Brooke was an absolute nightmare, what would start as a trip to the malls grocery store would turn into a full scale shopping spree, it didn't help that Ollie wasn't particularly fond of shopping either

"Peyton's away, remember."

"Fine, I'll come" Ollie huffed defeated, knowing that no matter how much she argued she would end up going anyway.

Satisfied Brooke said triumphantly "Good, be ready in an hour, kay?"

Ollie nodded dejectedly. With that, Brooke jumped off the bed and skipped her way out the room.

* * *

In Tree Hill mall, Ollie and Brooke had been wandering from shop to shop for the past hour. Brooke enthusiastically trying on clothes and chatting with shop assistants, while Ollie followed behind her, losing interest very quickly in all the clothes shops, that all pretty much seemed to have the same stuff in them anyway. The time was about 11:30am and Brooke was starting to wonder if Haley was going to show up at all. Over the phone, Haley had assured her that she would be here around 10am.

The two approached, the Tree Hill store of Brookes very own line, Clothes Over Bros, the label she had begun working on in High School. Brooke breathed a light sigh, seeing that Haley was in fact inside, even if it was a little later than planned.

Going around the back of the rack with Ollie, who hadn't seen Haley yet, following, she bumped directly into Haley, making it seem accidental.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Oh wow Haley it's you." Brooke acted dramatically, trying to make it appear to Ollie like a complete coincidental accident.

Ollie rolled her eyes, Brooke was a terrible actor and it was obvious that she had bumped into Haley purposefully. Assuming that the bumping was all there was to it and not that they had both actually planned it.

Haley smiled, trying not to laugh at Brooke. "Hey" she said, not completely sure where Brookes plan went next.

"Hey Haley, I'm sorry about that." She said dramatically still. "You like that?" Brooke asked gesturing to the top Haley was holding while sending a sidelong glance at Ollie who was rifling through a rack, looking far more interested in its contents than she actually was, in the hopes to avoid Haley.

"Umm yeah." Haley answered, still a little puzzled.

Brooke grinned, "Great, it's on the house. We just need to go talk to Janet, that's the manager. I'm the boss so she won't mind. Come on." Brooke pulled Haley away over the shop, leaving Ollie at the clothes rack, subtly glancing at them as her godmother pulled her mother round the store.

After a while of Brooke dashing round the store pulling Haley after her, chatting to the shop assistant and throwing various garments of clothing, Ollie felt like she had been staring into the rack forever. Sighing boredly she sank into the cushioned circular donut seat , leaning back and stretching her feet out on the ground in front of her and plugging her iPod into her ear to wait for Brooke to finish with Haley so they could leave.

Chatting enthusiastically to the shop assistant long enough for Haley to get tired of searching the store and waiting for her, Brooke watched as Haley sank down onto the donut chair close to where Ollie had been perched for the past ten minutes listening to her iPod, her eyes closed, softly nodding along to the beat. Boring the two out of their brains had been Brookes plan all along and it seemed to be going well so far, if there was one thing that had always been able to completely bore both of them it was definitely shopping.

On the seat, Haley was beginning to figure out what Brooke's almighty plan was, so decided to just go along with it. Sliding over so she was sitting closer to Ollie on the seat, she tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. At the feeling of someone touching her shoulder, Ollie jumped a mile, getting a massive fright due to not expecting the tap.

Ollie settled back down onto the seat after the fright and was fiddling with her iPod instead of looking at Haley. She did keep one ear free of the headphones though, giving Haley the opportunity to talk to her.

Haley smiled casually at her even though Ollie wasn't looking. Today she figured that maybe she shouldn't show too much of any emotion. So far, all of her encounters with her daughter had been packed with intense emotion, whether it had been admiration, anger or even grief. So for none of the emotional stuff seemed to have a good result. So this time she would keep it simple.

"Whatcha doing?" Haley asked friendlily.

"Nothing, just waiting for Brooke." Ollie replied her voice expressionless.

"You don't like shopping?" Haley tried to get a conversation started.

Ollie shook her head still fumbling with the iPod in her hands and refusing to look at Haley.

"Yeah me neither." Agreed Haley.

"You don't?" Ollie looked up a little, "But people like you always need the latest clothes and stuff."

"Yeah I guess but I always found it kinda boring." Haley shrugged. "Hey, you wanna go get some lunch? I think Brookes going to be a while."

Ollie looked over at Brooke, who had in fact picked up a customer and was shuttling them round the store and passing things to them in the changing rooms. And really it was about lunchtime and she was quite hungry.

She thought about it for a second. "Umm Ok." She answered much to Haley's delight. Stuffing her iPod into her bag, she stood and followed her mother out of the store.

Glancing over at the donut seat, Brooke noticed the two leaving and openly grinned to herself. Brooke Davis Adams plans _never_ failed.


	21. Chapter 20

**A/N**, thanks to everyone reading and reviewing. I hope youre all enjoying it. For those who are wondering, a big Nathan and Haley confrontation is coming up in a few chapters.

**Chapter 20**

In the food court at Tree Hill mall, two females who looked very similar to each other sat opposite each other at a table. One felt incredibly awkward and self conscious, while the other was pretty much feeling happier than she ever had. The awkward one had many questions for the other, questions that had been on her mind for a while, but ones that she hadn't been ready for the answers to. For some reason, she felt that now was the right time to ask.

"Haley? Can I like ask you some stuff?" Ollie asked her nervously.

Smiling warmly at her, she nodded.

"Ok, you're married to my dad right?" she began.

"Yep." Haley answered cautiously.

"So you got married in high school?"

Haley nodded again.

"Right. And you still wear the ring, or is it from someone else?" Ollie gestured to Haley's finger and the ring she had noticed back in the shop.

"No, its still the one Nathan gave me." Haley answered smiling sadly.

"Oh, what about Luke? Elise told me about what happened with you and him that night after you dropped me home. Dads hardly talked to him since he found out about it."

"Me and Luke were best friends since we were little kids." She shrugged. "I just wanted to see him. I'm sorry there not talking though, that wasn't what i wanted at all." Haley told her genuinely feeling guilty that she caused trouble in the brother's relationship.

Ollie nodded accepting what she had said. Then a small pause, she began to ask the one question that was the most important for her to know. "Are you goi...

"OH MY GOD you're Haley James," someone shrieked from beside their table, interrupting what Ollie was about to ask.

She saw Haley force a massive smile at the girl who asked for an autograph, before signing for the girl who skipped away excitedly.

Suddenly feeling incredibly self conscious herself, Haley turned back to her daughter, "I'm sorry." She apologised, expecting Ollie to be mad and go back into her shell. But surprisingly she wasn't.

"That's Ok." Ollie replied. "Umm what I was asking before. Well, are... umm, are you going to leave again, or are you going to stay here?" she looked down at her plate, fearing the worst of what the answer would be, over the past few days, she was starting to realise that maybe Haley wasn't a horrible person. After all, since Haley had been back all she had tried to do was be nice to everyone.

"Nope, I'm staying, forever." Haley told her certainly, knowing within herself that even if both Nathan and Ollie still refused to speak to her after this day that she would still never leave.

At this response, Ollie started to smile, small, but an honest smile all the same. It was time she felt, to start giving Haley a real chance without the anger and hatred. "Good" she nodded.

Haley's face broke out into the happiest expression imaginable hearing Ollie say that about her staying, it hadn't been the reaction she had expected at all, more like silence with a hint of hostility is what she had thought would have been the reply.

"What about your music though?" Ollie asked sensing a loophole.

"I'd rather teach than tour any day", Haley answered honestly.

"So you don't play anymore?"

"Yeah I do sometimes, just to myself though. Do you play much?" Haley asked, thinking of the few times she had heard Ollie perform, and how great she was at singing and guitar.

Ollie blushed, remembering the feeling of the guitar smashing against the pile of Haley James C.D's and destroying everything. Therefore while she was ready to begin accepting Haley's presence in her life that was not something she was willing to share with her yet. So she just shrugged.

Sensing her discomfort, Haley immediately ceased the music conversation, easily able to guess why Ollie wouldn't talk about her own music playing. She figured that Ollie had probably stopped playing because of her.

The two sat in an awkward silence for a few seconds, neither really knowing what to say to the other anymore. In the silence, Haley glanced around the mall and saw the women Brooke had been coaxing into buying from the shop, exiting carrying three bags full of clothes and a slightly guilty look on her face as if she knew she had spent too much. Haley chuckled, shaking her head a little as Brooke exited the store with a proud of herself look on her face and came over to them.

"Guess who just made the biggest sale in the history of Tree Hill Clothes Over Bros?" Brooke bragged grinning cockily as she took a seat at their table. They just chuckled at her. "Well, I guess you two just don't understand business like I do." She jokingly told them in fake condescendence. Noticing them rolling her eyes at her, she did so right back at them before sneakily winking at Haley and asking, "So, what have you two been up to?"

Ollie shook her head, once again rolling her eyes as she saw Brooke wink to Haley in a way was meant to be stealthy but was really quite obvious.

Brooke really was not a subtle person, no matter how much she was convinced otherwise.

* * *

In the gym at Herons Beach, Nathan watched from the stands as Charlotte's team faced off against Heron beaches. His own team, who had won their first game, were either in the stands as well, at the hotel or somewhere round the very small town.

Remembering his own days on these tournaments, he knew not to be too strict with them, because if they were going to get into trouble, no matter how hard he tried, he really wouldn't be able to stop them. As the quarter time buzzer went off, Charlotte was leading by seven and it was pretty clear they had the upper hand. Deciding that the game would probably go to Charlotte anyway and it was the last game of the day, he didn't see much reason for him to stay.

Making his way down the bleachers and out of the gym, he glanced around him wondering what he should do with the time he had before going back to the hotel. Spotting a little cafe, really quite similar seeming to Karen's, he headed toward it. The Cafe was a little bit smaller than Karen's, but the smell of coffee inside was warm and inviting. Sitting down at a booth, he ordered a coffee and a muffin before leaning back into the booth and relaxing, letting the quiet of the relatively empty cafe wash over him, the lack of noise welcome after having spent the whole day in the loud gym. After a couple of minutes his order came. While eating, he heard the outside door open. Turning to look, for lack of anything better to do, he saw someone very familiar. The woman at the door noticed him too and came over.

"Nathan?" she asked sounding surprised.

He grinned at her, "Rachel Gatina."

She looked down at him, he was wearing a Ravens coach shirt; she could see that he had aged incredibly well since High School, as she belived she had herself. Smirking, she glanced down at his fingers and was delighted to see the finger ring-less. Always, she had known he and Haley wouldn't work. Now it was her turn to get a chance with hotshot Nathan Scott.

Nathan gestured for her to take a seat once she had placed her order, genuinely happy to see his old, sort of, friend from high school. "How have you been Rachel" he smiled.

She grinned, "Great, Since high school I've been working as a model in LA. Took a holiday, came down here to visit some family. I'm actually on my way to Tree Hill" She said lying completely. Not once had she modelled or worked. The first old rich guy that she had come across, she had married and taken for pretty much everything in the divorce settlement. Also she had no family in Herons Beach and even if she did she probably wouldn't visit them or come to stay in a hole like this to see them. She was merely passing through on her way from Miami to Washington and had stopped for a coffee on the drive. Only now since seeing Nathan did her plans change to going to Tree Hill.

"That's great Rachel," He smiled, pleased life had been kind to her, "It'll be good having you in Tree Hill again, nearly the whole old gangs back there now."

"You've stayed in Tree Hill for all this time?" She asked sweetly, inside actually surprised that he hadn't become the basketball star that everyone had once predicted.

He nodded as the waiter set her to-go coffee on he table.

"Well I better go," she smiled, "don't want to be driving all night."

"Yeah," he stood to hug her friendlily, "Hey here's my number, give me a call in Tree Hill."

She nodded farewelling him, the slip of paper with the number he had just given her clasped in her hand. Turning, she headed out of the cafe, a triumphant devious grin plastered over her face.

* * *

In Brookes car, Ollie and Brooke were driving back home from the mall. Brooke, because she was driving, was fully focussed on the road and Ollie was gazing out the passenger seat window.

Continuing to look out the window at the passing people and houses, Ollie said, "I know that you set today up Brooke."

A sheepish look rose to Brookes face as she realised she had been caught out completely, even though she thought her plan had been incredibly sneaky. "Oh" she answered briefly blushing a little.

Inside the car it went back to silence for about a minute and Brooke was almost certain Ollie was angry and giving her the silent treatment, but then she heard the young girl ever so quietly say,

"Thank you."


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Sitting at the little table on the wharf near the river court was becoming a bit of a ritual for Haley. A lot of the days since returning to Tree Hill she would come and just sit there watching the river for hours. That's exactly what she was doing now, seeing as it was the long weekend and she had today off from work. The aura of this place, just hidden by some trees from the court where she had spent most of her childhood, was so peaceful.

The sound of footsteps leapt to her ears from the river court just behind the small patch of trees, the rubbery bounce of a basketball followed. The boys from the Ravens were often playing while she sat here. They reminded her so much of her and her group of friends at their age. The boys playing on the court while the girls sat on the bleachers cheering for their other half or chatting to the other girls. But this weekend all the basketballers and cheerleaders that she knew of were away at the tournament weekend.

Peering through a gap in the glade of trees she was surprised to see her own daughter bouncing the ball against the hard court, completely oblivious Haley was sitting just a few meters away. Haley noticed that while Ollie was a little short to have mastered her father's jumpshot, she had definitely inherited Lucas' freethrow. The ball swept through the net as she scored another basket. As the ball hit the ground it rebounded away toward the river. Ollie sprinted after it, not wanting to lose her ball to the flowing current. Getting to it just in time she scooped it up, the wharf falling directly in her eye line as she did so. When she saw Haley sitting there she got a quizzical look on her face but decided not to question her about it. Instead she called out to Haley, "Wanna play?"

The question sort of shocked Haley, she had been expecting Ollie to accuse her of being a stalker or something. "Umm Ok, I'm not very good though," she said leaving her seat and going over to Ollie, willing to spend any sort of time with her daughter even if it was something she was absolutely horrible at.

Grinning, Ollie tossed her the ball which she fumbled slightly as she caught it. Unsure of what exactly to do with the ball next she glanced sidelong at Ollie who was looking up at the net obviously expecting Haley to take a shot.

Very awkwardly, Haley threw it upward toward the net. Surprisingly it actually whooshed right off the backboard and through the net. Haley's eyes filled with disbelief and she laughed gaping slightly, completely shocked she had landed it. She heard Ollie laugh as well, probably at her complete lack of throwing style and the stunned expression on her face. The sound of her daughter laughing with her was complete music to her ears.

Retrieving the ball she passed it to Ollie who caught it still grinning, "I thought you said you were bad?" Ollie asked.

Raising her eyebrows Haley chuckled, "Oh I am bad. When I was your age they were failing me in PE because I couldn't land a single basket."

"What?" Ollie exclaimed laughing.

"Yup they wouldn't let me finish that year until I sunk a basket."

"Did you? Sink one I mean."

"Yeah, I was tutoring a boy who knew a little about basketball. He helped me master the granny style shot." She told Ollie, smiling at the memory.

Ollie chuckled, but the story seemed somewhat familiar, as if she had heard it before. Delving into her head, she suddenly remembered the story her dad had told her about becoming a coach and the first time he had ever taught someone basketball. His story had been very similar to her one. Deciding to ask, she questioned, "Was dad the one that taught you?"

Seeing that a smile still played on Ollie's lips despite the fact that they were talking about Nathan, Haley nodded.

"Yeah he taught me too." Ollie said as she shot the ball sending it perfectly through the net, not once touching the backboard.

The two of them continued to shoot around, laughing and actually properly getting on for the first time. Ollie was trying to teach Haley how to freethrow better when out of the corner of her eye she noticed her dad leaning against his car out on the road, watching them grimly. She tossed the ball to Haley and told her, "I'll be back in a sec." Then ran over to Nathan.

"Hey dad," she hugged him. Back at home she had left him a note to let him know where she would be considering he had been on his way back from Herons Beach when she had left. From the way he was dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, it looked like he had been planning to join her for some basketball. But now, it was pretty obvious that joining her was no longer the plan.

"Hi Ollie," he returned her hug. "What's going on?" he asked frowning in Haley's direction, who was standing back on the court fiddling with the ball.

"Nothing, we're just playing."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asked her softly. "Considering everything that she's done".

"Dad, she really isn't that bad. You should let her explain, or just come play for a while." Ollie tried to convince.

He shook his head, "Just leave it Ollie. Come on, I'll give you a ride home."

Not really seeing anything else she could do, she nodded and went back over to the court.

"Sorry but I have to go." Ollie told Haley who handed her the ball with a slightly sad but understanding smile.

"Maybe we can, you know if you want, hang out some time, if it's Ok with Nathan." Haley asked quickly as Ollie turned to leave.

Surprising her a little, Ollie smiled genuinely and nodded before waving and heading into the car where Nathan was waiting, curiously watching the exchange between his wife and daughter, not sure if it was a good or bad thing.

As the car pulled away, Ollie could see from glancing in the rear view mirror that Haley had returned to her spot on the wharf, she could also see her dad's eyes in the mirror watching Haley too.

"How was Herons?" she asked lowering her eyes from the mirror.

He grinned at her, choosing to forget about Haley. "Pretty good. The team came second over all. We lost to Raleigh in the finals. How about your weekend? Did you have fun with Brooke?"

"Yeah," she nodded being vague about what she had done during the weekend, "We went shopping."

"Oh shopping with Brooke. That must have been fun." He said sarcastically knowing how fanatical Brooke got when it came to shopping.

"Yeah, she did shop for quite a while," Ollie agreed still leaving out that while Brooke had been in the shops, she had been with Haley.

Nathan chuckled keeping his eyes on the driving as he turned into their driveway.

Once stopped, the two headed inside to find Ephraim standing in the foyer surrounded by suitcases.

"Hey Ephraim." She said curiously glancing at the suitcases, knowing he hadn't taken anything that big to New York with him. "How was New York?"

"It was Ok. Chase spent most of it freaking out though."

"Why? What happened?" Nathan asked hoping it was nothing too bad.

"There's some new massive fashion label that's massive competition and mom and Chases companies sales are down by like 20 or something" Ephraim shrugged, like most people his age not really wanting to delve to deep into the business world.

"Right, so then what's with all the suitcases?"

"Moms decided her and Chase need to go back to New York and she needs to design a whole new set of winter clothes to beat the new label." He told them just as Brooke herself came hurrying into the foyer frantically counting luggage out loud on her fingers.

"Hey, good you two are back. Can you help me get these into the car Nate?" she passed him two suitcases, speaking a mile a minute and he grunted under the weight before taking them out to his car and putting them into the trunk, as well as the other ones that the three inside brought out.

Everyone loaded into the car to take her to the airport. None of them wanted her or Chase to leave, Ephraim liked having his parents home in Tree Hill, Nathan liked the support and friendship and Ollie always missed not having her godmother, because with Brooke she had always been able to talk about everything. Even Brooke herself didn't really want to leave, just like her son; home, and nearly everyone important to her was in Tree Hill, but, her job was in New York so she didn't have much of a choice about leaving. Over the phone, while her company had seemed to be managing fine, from what Chase had told her, it really wasn't doing so well without them.

The four in the car eventually found a park in the busy lot, in fact Brooke had been incredibly lucky to get a ticket at such short notice due to the many New York vacationers in North Carolina heading home after the long weekend. Inside the airport was fairly busy too but after 20 minutes of waiting in line, Brooke was checked in and the announcement of boarding in half an hour and to report to the waiting room as soon as possible was called over the loud speaker.

"Well I guess I better go."Brooke told them sadly, hearing the announcement.

None of them really liking to say goodbye, it was Ollie who wrapped her arms around Brooke in a farewell hug first. "Thanks for everything Brooke. I'm gonna miss you." Ollie told her.

Brooke smiled as the girl pulled away, "I'll miss you too buddy."

Next Nathan hugged her, also thanking her for coming and helping them. Just before the embrace ended, she whispered in his ear, "Be happy Nate."

He nodded slightly, looking serious as he stepped back.

Turning to Ephraim, Brooke teared up a little and pulled him to her like she had when he was a kid and was going to stay at a friend's for the night. "I love you sweetie."

"Love you too mom" he smiled reassuringly at her, knowing she struggled with saying goodbye.

"We're going to come back and visit as soon as we can." she told him and he nodded.

They all said goodbye one more time, and then reluctantly Brooke stepped onto the escalator. She wiped away her tears and waved down to them until they had completely dissapeared from her sight.


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

"Psst Ollie... Ollie?"

"Shh Jess. We'll get a detention." Ollie whispered sideways.

"Just listen it'll like completely make your day."

"After class okay." Ollie whispered with finality, noticing the teacher looking up from his desk.

"Miss Scott. Miss Seddyn, is there a problem?" their math teacher Mr Donald asked condescendingly glaring down at them from the front of the math class.

"No sir" they both said with a hint of irritancy in their voices, he definately was not one of their more favourite teachers.

"Get on with your work and be quiet then." He ordered.

They put their heads back down to focus on the boring textbook work that they got set nearly every period, grumbling silently in their head about how unfair it was having to work in silence. In most classes, that amount of quiet whispering would be allowed, but not with Mr Donald. He wasn't exactly the kind of teacher that students looked forward to having, even though he only had one rule. Then again, that rule _was_ to sit down and work silently, at all times. Not quietly, silently. It didn't really help much that he wasn't the most, well, interesting teacher either.

As soon as the bell went, after what seemed like forever, everyone dashed from the class, eager not to spend another second going over the laws of inequalities.

"Okay, guess what happened at Herons in the weekend?" Jess asked excitedly pulling Ollie to the side of the corridor. This was the first moment she had had a chance to tell her and had been dying to since it happened during the weekend.

"I dunno. What?" Ollie urged eagerly wanting Jess to spit it out

"Well, you know how cheerleaders stay in a different hotel than the basketballers at away games now to like avoid any room swapping?"

"Yeah." Ollie answered not too sure where Jess was going with her story.

"Well, Lauren decided to be her slutty self and sneak to the boy's hotel to see Duncan, who completely dumped her when he found out about her attacking you, by the way."

Ollie smirked, glad that Lauren had what she deserved by Duncan breaking up with her.

"Oh that's not all," Jess continued enthusiastically grinning, even though she and Lauren were in the same cheer squad; they weren't overly fond of each other. "When Duncan rejected her, she managed to get her hands on some drinks and apparently came stumbling back into our hotel at like 1 in the morning. But on her way in got caught by our coach who was like patrolling the halls."

"What happened?" Ollie grinned, it was sounding like karma had given Lauren what she deserved.

"Our Coach called Laurens parents. When everyone woke up in the morning, we could all hear her parents, who drove all the way there overnight, screaming at her. Something about no more chances and last straws. Anyway, she's being sent to boarding school in Arizona." Jess finished triumphantly.

Ollies mouth dropped open and she let out a happy but surprised laugh. "So she isn't coming back?"

"Nope. Great right?"

"Yes! It awesome. Serves her right too."

"Serves who right?" Ephraim asked annoyingly, nosily poking his head in between them. He loved getting under Jessica's skin.

"Lauren Burgess. She 's being sent to boarding school."Ollie grinned at him.

"Dammit. That girl was fine."

"Oi Ephraim!" Ollie exclaimed whacking him on the arm. "She attacked me."

"Aahh I was just kidding, don't hurt me." he laughed raising his arms to protect himself from Ollie as Jess rolled her eyes at them amusedly.

"Fine, as long as you were joking." She smirked.

"Good. Now that you've stopped heartlessly beating me, I have something for the two of you" he said handing them each a Tric flier. "I actually took your advice Ollie and asked Jeremy if he wanted to play with me."

Ollie felt a slight pang of jealousy, even though she knew she had no right to, considering she had in fact suggested Kate herself and hadn't touched an instrument for months.

"So do you reckon you can both come?" he asked glancing at both of them.

"Yeah I probably can." Jessica told him, softening a little toward after being personally invited.

Ollie nodded as her response.

"Great. I'm going to go pin some of these up some where." He said excitedly before leaving with more fliers. "See you later."

Jess watched him leave then turned to her friend. She had known Ollie a long time, and lately, she had just seemed different and distant, but every time she asked what was up, Ollie made up some excuse to brush off the question. Ollie not being the one to play with Ephraim was just another thing her friend was doing that was out of character. So, keeping her tone of voice casual she asked, "So why aren't you gonna play with Ephraim? You were great last time."

"I'm just not that interested in music anymore," she said vaguely and before Jess could respond muttered, "I have to go to the bathroom."

With that, Ollie walked away, leaving Jess standing there confused by her friend's odd behaviour. It wasn't that she didn't trust Jess, its just that, still, she wasn't quite ready for anyone to know about Haley yet.

* * *

Nathan was sitting, studying the flier in his hands. Ephraim had given it to him at breakfast and now was the first chance he had gotten to look at it. He knew that he was going to have to go the concert, even though in some ways he didn't want to. Of course he wanted to go to support his godson and watch him play, but without a doubt, Haley would be there too. Be there fooling his brother, his daughter and his friends.

The phone rang beside him, causing him to lift his gaze from the flier in order to answer it.

"Hello?" he said into the receiver.

"Hi. Is this Nathan?" a female voice responded from the other end.

"Yeah"

"Ok hey Nate, its Rachel."

"Oh, hi. How's your trip going?"

"Yeah, it's been great. That's actually sort of why I'm calling. I think I'm going to be in Tree Hill by Friday and I was thinking about taking up your offer from a couple of days ago to catch up." She said into the phone sweetly.

Nathan grinned against the receiver, "This Friday?"

"Yeah. Oh, is that a problem?"

"No that's perfect actually, there's this concert at Tric that I'm going to. We could go together." He suggested.

Rachel laughed, amused that even after all this time, Tree Hill hadn't changed a bit and everyone still spent their nights out at quaint little Tric. While the idea of the small town club from her teenager years didn't overly excite her, the thought of Nathan Scott did.

"Sure Nathan. I'll see you then."

"Ok great. Bye Rachel.

Smirking he hung up the phone. That had actually worked out kind of perfectly for him. Rachel always had known how to have a good time. Also with her there, Haley wouldn't be able to get to him at all because he would be busy with Rachel. It would probably hurt Haley though, something he considered to be another perk. It was about time he got back into the world of dating and women. Rachel Gatina was just the person to throw him right back in.


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

**A/N: **The song is _I Aint Losing Any Sleep by The Sunshine Underground._ Thanks for reading!

_Well it seems to me like you ain't having much fun  
Something wrong?  
Something wrong?_

_I don't like what you think  
I'm probably better on my own  
I ain't losing any sleep_

_Well maybe you're just having another bad day  
What do ya say hey?  
What do ya say?  
_

Sipping an orange juice at the bar in Tric sat Nathan watching the stage where his godson was playing. Rachel hadn't shown up yet, so he chose to sit by himself and wait. Peyton and Haley were chatting away near the stage and Lucas had been over to talk to him earlier, but it was obvious he was trying to ignore all of them.

He heard the entrance door shut behind someone over the noise of the music and saw a very welcome head of red hair appear. Subconsciously he threw a glance over at Haley to see what she was doing and then got up and went over to Rachel.

Smirking his famous smirk that all the girls back in high school had fallen for, he said. "Hey Rachel," and kissed her on the cheek, "You look great."

It was true as well, She did look great. The dress she wore was short showing off her tan legs. The neck was low and the green colour made her hair and eyes shine. Nathan could tell that she still had a good body too.

"Thanks", she grinned slipping her arm around him, "you look pretty hot yourself."

He raised his eyebrows, liking the comment. "Wanna drink?"

"Don't worry, I bought my own," she smirked pulling out a flask of what Nathan assumed was probably some kind of spirit. She took a gulp and offered it to him.

He took it and not wanting to actually consume any alcohol took a fake sip and handed it back to her. "Come on, lets dance." He told her pulling her in close to him on the dance floor letting her take control. And, again, he subconsciously looked over to where Haley was, when he saw the expression on her face, he smirked knowing without a doubt she had already seen him with Rachel.

_Well there's a series of arguments you seem to be throwing at yourself  
Something wrong?  
_

_Something wrong?_

_What's the worst that can happen if ya turn it around  
What do ya say hey?  
What do ya say?_

"Is that Rachel Gatina?" Peyton asked following Haleys eyes to where Nathan was dancing.

"Looks like it." Haley answered resignedly, seeing her grinding Nathan. "I guess everyone was wrong, it sure looks like he has moved on."

Peyton watched as her brother in law moved along with Rachel who was dancing against him flauntingly, It disappointed her for two reasons, the first being that Haley was trying so hard and all her attempts with him had lead to bitter, hurtful dead ends. The second was that using a girl like Rachel to make himself feel better was the kind of thing he did back when he was a jerk in high school, not something he did now or had done in a while.

"I'm sorry Haley." She said sadly to her friend gently squeezing her shoulder.

Haley smiled sadly, "Its fine. I mean Ollie's starting to let me in and that's a whole lot more than I expected her to do. If Nathan can't forgive me at least one of the people who mean everything to me might."

"Yeah Brooke told me about that. It's really great Haley, especially if Rachel becomes a permanent fixture in Nathans life. Ollie, she's really going to need you then." Peyton told Haley shaking her head sadly as she saw Rachel take a drag from her flask and continue dancing a little too close to Nathan.

At least Nathan didn't seem to be drinking though, which was one good thing about it.

_Well maybe you're just having another bad day  
What do ya say, ya  
What do ya say, ya_

_(just think about it)  
_

From the bathroom in Tric, Ollie could hear the upbeat sound of the music flowing in from the club. She couldn't fully make out the lyrics but this didn't sound like a song Ephraim would have written. He tended to write slower songs. She did have to admit, he and Jeremy did play well together, and she felt terrible for being a little jealous.

Satisfied that her hands were washed, she turned off the tap and left the bathroom. Peering around she searched for some of her friends in the busy room.

"Hey Ollie."

She turned and noticed Duncan had just appeared beside her, ever since her fight with Lauren he had been really nice and apologized nearly every time he saw her.

"Hi Duncan," she smiled.

"Having fun?" He asked

She nodded noticing a really nervous, shy looking guy about her age standing a little away from them, obviously there with Duncan but too shy to join them. She didn't recognize him either which was a strange occurrence living somewhere as small as Tree Hill.

Duncan noticed the questioning look on Ollie's face, "Oh, this is my step brother Kaleb. He's just come to live with us."

"Hi Kaleb" she said smiling at him.

She could tell from his sort of overwhelmed expression that being in a loud club full of people was not how he would usually have chosen to spend his Friday night. He had sandy blonde hair that was neat, quite a change from most other guys who intentionally went for messy look. Over his near black eyes he wore seeing glasses and he was wearing a dress shirt. Her first impression of him was that he was a little bit of a nerd.

"Hello" he replied politely holding out his hand.

Ollie giggled, not many people shook hands in greeting. She stepped forward to shake his hand, as she did so the part of the dance floor that had been out of view came into sight and she saw some slutty red head grinding into her father. A little grossed out, she saw him glance to the side with a smirk, following his eyes with her own, they landed on Haley who looked sad and as if any hope she had was gone. Ollie couldn't believe her dad was doing this, sure she knew he was angry, but deliberately trying to hurt Haley, that made her angry and in turn that made her want to make her dad angry.

Moving to grab Duncan, she decided against it, not wanting him to have to face the consequences at practice so instead grabbed Kaleb and dragged him to the dance floor.

Shock with a little fear filled Kaleb as she dragged him, he glanced at Duncan who grinned and gave him the thumbs up. He felt Ollie start to dance against him, rather close as well, he stumbled a little as his feet fumbled, with no idea what to do with his hands, hoping she couldn't tell how nervous he was about this.

However, Ollie was hardly taking any notice of Kaleb. Instead she was on doing exactly what her dad was doing to make Haley upset, to make her dad angry. And it was working.

_Coz most of life is thinking your in control  
Wouldn't ya say, ya  
Wouldn't ya say, ya  
_

Pulling away from her, Nathan left Rachel standing on the floor completely confused. Storming over to a seat at the bar, he didn't take his eyes off his daughter for a moment. Although, she and the boy she was with were dancing quite similarly, plus much more conservatively, to how he had been just moments before, Nathan didn't see that. What he saw was a sleazy teenage boy trying to take advantage of his little girl.

"Little young for you don't you think?" Rachel quipped once she realised what he was watching. She took his look of anger to be one of jealousy, not knowing he had a daughter.

Nathan glared at her, not really in the mood for her attempts at humour anymore, "She' my daughter." He told Rachel drily.

"Oh", Rachel slumped into the bar seat next to him a bit annoyed. She had never been fond of kids, and Nathan having one killed a lot of his appeal for her. Besides, it was kind of difficult getting a guy into bed with his kid sleeping just a few rooms away.

Completely ignoring Rachel's sulking, he eagerly waited for the song to finish so he could intervene between the two teenagers but not cause a scene. Knowing what he was like at that age, he wanted no male anywhere near his daughter.

As if in slow motion, he saw the boy hesitate for a second and then move his face closer to Ollie's. Panic exploded inside Nathan as the boys face lingered but millimetres from his daughter for a few seconds and then move closer for his lips to meet hers. This was too much.

_I don't like what you think  
I'm probably better on my own  
I ain't losing any sleep_

And then the song changed.


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

**A/N:** Hey, thanks for reading, hope your enjoyng it. I'm going away on holiday and i won't have internet access, so this will probably be the last update for about the next two weeks.Sorry.

_I don't like what you think  
I'm probably better on my own  
I ain't losing any sleep_

And then the song changed.

_There's nothing left  
Nothing left to hold onto  
There is no reason for me to fight anymore  
_

The feel of his lips against hers were soft and not pushing in any way. Surprise caused her not to respond to Kalebs kiss in any other way than freezing on the spot. Instantly she forgot all about Haley, Nathan and the slutty redhead. Then, the warmth flowing through her suddenly abated.

Pulling away from her, Kaleb muttered, "Sorry" as a blush rose to his face and he stared at the ground.

Ollie had no idea what to say, this wasn't so much about annoying her dad anymore. Before it had happened, she hadn't wanted or expected the kiss, but now that there was a wide awkward gap between her and this nerdy seeming guy she hardly knew, all she wanted was for it to happen again.

_There's nothing left  
Nothing left to hold onto  
There is no reason for me to fight anymore_

Mistaking the silence for rejection, Kaleb started to turn to leave. He hadn't known what had come over him anyway, kissing her like that. Girls like her would never willingly kiss someone like him. Then he felt a hand on his arm and turned back around surprise filling his eyes when she wrapped her arms around his neck her body close to his, not promiscuously like she had been before but softly, her body fitting perfectly in with his this way. Bending his head so his eyes were equal with hers he saw her give him a small nervous smile.

Stiffly at first, he put his own arms around her and she began to sway in time with the slow music, this song she knew was one of Ephraim's. As they swayed together she felt his arms finally relax around her and she wanted to dance like this with him forever.

_I let it all go  
It'll be easier I know  
The weight on my shoulders tells me so__When there was nothing I could do  
_

As soon as Nathan saw the kiss, he was up out of his seat, ready to rip the little punk away from his daughter. Yes he was being a little over protective, but that was his job, a job he intended to do well too. Stalking toward them, he could tell both of them were lost in their own world, his daughter probably wouldn't talk to him for a while after this, but he felt that he was protecting her.

Eyes focussed on the two dancing he neared the dance floor with purpose burning inside him.

"Don't"

The voice spoke imperatively, strong and commanding and he felt the warm hand of the person pushing him back upon his chest.

He glared down at her and she glared up at him, both waging silent battle against the other. Their eyes burned into one another's, neither willing to back down. Blue refusing to give into brown and brown refusing to give into blue.

After a while the intensity made Nathan snap. He couldn't bear her hand on his chest, being inches away from her, and the chilling familiarity of her eyes.

"She is _my_ daughter Haley." He told her forcibly trying to make her back off.

She didn't back off like he wanted and instead pulled him to a concealed corner of the club so no one, Ollie especially could hear them. Crossing her arms she said with at tone of no nonsense, "You know what Nathan. You can ignore me all you like, but, really, she is my daughter too and I will not let you ruin her night."

Nathan chuckled wryly shaking his head disbelievingly; completely taken aback that Haley actually thought she had any right to say that. In fact, he was speechless.

_  
I let it all go  
It'll be easier I know  
The weight on my shoulders tells me so_

So now I stand here  
To sing another song for you  
About the pain I've felt before  
When there was nothing I could do

Shaking her head with disappointment that this was pretty much a joke to him she asked, "Why are you doing this Nathan?"

"Doing what?" He asked self righteously.

"Acting like this. Flaunting Rachel, constant anger and completely ignoring nearly everyone around you. That isn't the Nathan I remember."

"Well people do change in 15 years Haley, I mean, look at you," he sneered.

"Yeah? How would you even know?" she pointed out angrily, "it's not like you've given me any sort of chance to explain."

"Do you not get it?" he asked annoyed, "I don't care. You're explanation is never going to change anything Haley."

Haley was a little taken aback by that. She had known he was angry at her but not that he practically saw absolutely no chance for them ever again. That hurt more than anything.

_  
So now I stand here  
With nothing left to say to you  
And if you all could sing along  
It might help me make it through_

I try to move on  
Nothing left to hurt me now  
I hope its all in the past to stay

"Fine" she sighed closing her eyes. "If you won't listen to me can you please at least try and accept the past and that I'm here to stay. Please, for Lucas and Ollie's sake. You're hurting them too." Lucas had told her all about Nathans alcohol problems. She also knew that since Luke had been talking to her again, Nathan had pushed him further and further away, almost to the point of him hardly acknowledging him at all.

"Why?" he spat. "We were all fine before you came along."

"Are you _sure_ Nathan?" she asked pointedly, narrowing her eyes. "Are you really sure of that? Because it seems to me most of the people here, in their own ways, are far from happy and have been since well before I got here."

While deep down he knew that was the truth, there was no way he was going to accept it, not from Haley, "Maybe. But only since you came and screwed up everyone's life. You know what? It'd be a whole lot better for everyone if you would just piss off and go back to your precious music. You're not wanted here Haley."

_I let it all go  
Feels so much better now I know  
The weight on my shoulders tells me so_

_There's nothing left  
None of it's worth holding on to  
There is no reason for you to fight anymore_

To Haley, it felt like the words had physically slapped her open handed across the face. It was taking everything in her no to cry, not to show him just how much that had stung. The index finger of her right hand tentatively wandered to the ring finger on her left. Running her finger over the warm metal ring upon her finger she hesitated a second then slowly slipped it off. Her eyes stared down at the gold band, so small, lying flat in her palm. Clenching her fist around it she glared up determinedly at Nathan, shaking her head.

"I'm done. Nathan. I'm done trying with you." She declared shoving the ring against his chest letting it fall from her fingers.

Standing frozen and shocked from the finality in her voice, he heard the ring clatter to the floor as he watched her turn and walk away. Even though this had been what he thought he had wanted, her to leave him alone, now that it was actually happening, deep down, he knew it wasn't his desire at all. Having a the relationship of anger they had had recently, to him was better than no relationship at all.

Bending down, he scooped up her ring between his fingers. Rotating it within his hand, he saw the inscription on the inside of the band catch the light. _Always and Forever. _

_  
Just try to see through  
All the fucked up shit we do  
And hope that we all dont drift away_

The words brought back to him all the memories of her that he had kept locked away deep in both his mind and heart for so long that it ached to release them. Instinctively his hand went to his front pocket to reach for his own gold band. But the pocket was empty and the afternoon he discarded his ring into the draw in his office came back to him. All of a sudden he felt horrible.

Knowing that Haley was giving up meant that she wasn't his in any way, and even though he had told himself to move on from her, he couldn't handle her moving on from him. Because if he was truly honest with himself, he hadn't moved on even the tiniest little bit.

"Haley?" he called searching hoping she hadn't gone far yet, the ring burning into his hand as he looked around frantically.

But, she was no where to be seen.

**A/N: The song used in this chapter was _Let It Out - Aaron Lewis_**

So now I stand here  
To sing another song for you  
About the pain I've felt before


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Nathan was panting hard. He wasn't in the same shape as he used to be and the 5km run he had just been on had really taken it out of him. The heavy breaths were freezing in front of him as he made his way to the letterbox on the way inside. Pulling open the door to the box he was surprised to find a letter inside. They didn't usually get mail on a Sunday. Reading the front curiously as he headed inside, told him nothing, only that the sender had very neat writing.

"Hey Olls" he smiled as he entered the kitchen and noticed her eating breakfast at the bench. While the other night he had been a little, well a lot, pissed at the boy she was with, he wasn't angry with her.

"Hi" she replied looking at him as he sat down. "Good run?"

"Yep alright." He replied tearing open the envelope curiously.

It contained multiple pieces of typed paper but he didn't need to read through each one to know what it was about. He knew immediately. Staring at it numbly, he wasn't willing to take it all in. This was something that no matter how angry he got, he had never even considered. The papers fell from his hand to flutter down onto the bench.

"Are you ok dad?" Ollie asked, seeing his expression.

"Yeah it's nothing" he answered spaced out, then abruptly walking to his room and closing the door behind him.

"Weird" Ollie muttered to herself reaching for the papers feeling a little guilty for snooping.

Figuring out what they were took a little longer for her than it had for her father, but after a little reading she realised that they were papers for divorce. Papers with the initials HJS already signed. Suddenly knowing the exact reason for her dad's behaviour she too let the papers drop to the bench and walked to his room. Without knocking she pushed open the door.

Not wanting het to see this having an affect on him, Nathan quickly looked up at her and put a look of normality upon his face.

"Dad" she began gently sitting beside him, his fake expression not fooling her, even though they weren't as close as they one had been, she could see that even though her father pretended like it, truly, he didn't want a divorce. Also from the small amount of time she had spent with Haley, she couldn't believe that she did either,"You don't have to sign them."

"I know" he responded sombrely, fiddling with something in his hand, knowing she saw through to the feelings he refused to even admit to himself, for beneath all the anger, all he really wanted was to forgive Haley.

Ollie could see that it was a gold ring, "Is that hers?"

He nodded smiling wryly. "Yeah."

"Did you two talk? Did you let her explain?"

"No. It's over."

Ollie pondered for a moment before making the decision that if Nathan was still refusing to listen to Haley, she would just have to tell him herself. "Daunte"

"What?" he asked angrily fully facing her, "Where'd you hear that name?"

Ignoring his question, she continued quietly, "Everything is his fault, not Haley's."

"Ollie what do you mean?"

"I.. I think he threatened her just after I was born. He threatened to hurt us if she didn't leave." Ollie confessed to her father what she had overheard between Brooke and Haley as tears formed in her eyes.

Nathans eyes widened in shock and he pulled Ollie into a hug. He had been wrong in thinking Haley's reasons would be worth nothing. In fact, that tiny thing changed everything and now he couldn't believe he had refused to listen for so long.

Ollie leaned away from him and sat back up straight. "Dad? Can you please try and forgive her? Because... I think I want to know my mom, and I want you to be happy and that won't happen if you get divorced."

"Yeah" he whispered, still reeling from the mention of Daunte and the fact that everything he had believed about Haley for the last 15 years was completely false.

He felt Ollie place something next to him and leave the room. Once she was gone he looked down to see a slip of paper on his bed. Written across it was Haley's name then an address written in Ollie handwriting. Knowing exactly what to do, he grabbed a jacket, got the divorce papers off the bench, and with resolve got into the car ready to sort this out for good.

* * *

_  
_In the kitchen of her house, Haley was baking cookies. Since settling back in Tree Hill, baking had become a bit of a hobby for her. In a way she found the homeliness of it calming. As she pulled a batch of cookies that she would probably end up giving to Peyton's kids out of the oven, she was surprised to hear the doorbell ringing.

Hurriedly sliding the cookies onto a cooling rack she walked quickly to the door, not caring that she probably had flour on her face or in her hair. Swinging it open she did a complete double take seeing Nathan on her doorstep.

"What do you want?" she asked bluntly.

He fidgeted a little, nervously, under her stare, "What are these?" he demanded holding up the divorce papers.

"Divorce papers" she told him, not in the mood for nonsense, "it says it right there at the top."

Scowling he said, "Yes I know what they are Haley."

"Then what's the problem?"

"I don't want a divorce." He answered as if it were completely obvious.

Haley shook her head, Nathans mixed messages were starting to frustrate her. "So what the hell do you want then?" she demanded her voice becoming loud. "You obviously don't want anything to do with me and apparently you don't want a divorce. So what Nathan?"

Nathan gulped from nervousness as her voice rose. Glancing around the street awkwardly, he saw the neighbour in their window listening in from when Haley's voice rose. "Please, can we go inside and talk?"

Standing aside to let him inside, wondering whether he was simply doing this to hurt or not.

Nathan sat down on a stool in the kitchen and Haley sat down in another. There was a pause, he felt uncomfortable being in her house, and now that he was here didn't know how to say how he felt without being horribly hypocritical. He didn't want Haley to think he only wanted her when she didn't want him. For him, she had never been about the chase and now that he knew Daunte was involved, he wasn't so angry with her anymore for leaving, he just didn't know how to go about fully forgiving her

"Um, do you want a cookie?" Haley asked holding the tray in front of him, uncomfortable in the silence.

"Thanks", he answered solemnly, taking one.

"Sooo?" she pushed, wanting to know what was going on with him.

He nodded and met her eyes. A deep sadness and exhaustion lay within them, yet he still saw a small glimmer of love shining within them. "I know about Daunte. Ollie told me."

Haley, looking back into Nathans eyes saw exactly the same emotions as he saw in her own. "I'm sorry for not telling you back then." She whispered.

Locking his jaw, Nathan clenched his fist angrily. "No, don't be sorry. It's him. I'm going to kill him Haley, I swear."

The flash of pure anger coming out of Nathan terrified her. "Daunte's gone. He got his money and won't come back here. He's in the past."

"I know but if he does ever set foot here again, he's dead." Nathan told her, his jaw setting at the thought of Daunte threatening Haley with Ollie's life. His daughters life.

"Ok," she nodded, knowing there was nothing she could say, and nothing he wanted to hear to dissuade his anger for the man that had ripped them apart. "What now though? If you don't want the divorce.

"I don't know." He replied. And he really didn't. Deep down he knew he still loved her despite the anger that still burned within him, even if it was beginning to lessen due to finding out about Daunte's involvement. He didn't know if he could risk it though, only just was he getting his life back on track after his drinking problems that came with Haley's return. To him, letting her in again could mean having to face losing her again, and that was something he wasn't so sure he could handle a second time.

"Well we can't keep going like this."

"I know" he sighed, rubbing his hands wearily over his face "but I just don't know if I can trust you Haley. Not just with me, but with Ollie."

Haley looked him square in the eyes, urging him to see her honesty, "The last thing in the world that I want to do is hurt you or Ollie in any way. I promise you. Please just give me a chance."

Nathan hesitated for a moment, but then his eyes saw the sincerity shinning passionately in hers, and he could see she meant nothing but the truth. So he nodded,

"Ok".


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

_Nathan hesitated for a moment, but then his eyes saw the sincerity shinning passionately in hers, and he could see she meant nothing but the truth. So he nodded, "Ok"_

But something else plagued her mind now, not her own relationship with Nathan, but her best friends. "You need to speak to Luke? Please Nathan, all this has been hard on him too."

"I guess" he sighed, knowing it was inevitable, "I'll speak to him."

"Good" Haley smiled slightly at the absence of hostility in his voice."Nathan? Umm also do you think that maybe I can talk to Ollie about all of this? I mean I really just want to make her Ok with it."

"I don't know. Is that really a good idea? She knows about the divorce papers and might be angry or upset at you. She might listen better if I talk to her about it."

"Please, Nathan."

"I…"

Nathans answer was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Glancing out the window, she saw Luke's car. Haley knew Lucas was bound to pop round sometime, he often did on Sundays.

"It's Luke." She told Nathan.

"Oh"

"Stay here and talk to him, please?"

"Yeah, Ok I will."

"What about Ollie?" Haley asked, knowing they hadn't agreed yet. She wanted both he and Ollie to know that they could trust her.

Nathan hesitated, looking into her pleading eyes before caving, "Ok, just don't push her if she doesn't seem to accept it."

Haley nodded and awkwardly squeezed his arm in a sign of distant affection. "Thank You" she whispered before breaking away from him and going to the door to greet Lucas.

She opened the door, "Hey Luke."

"Hey Hales" he answered casually stepping inside.

"Whats up?" she asked.

"Nothing really. Peyt and the kids are out and I was bored so I came to see you. Is that cookies I smell?" he asked raising his eyebrows excitedly.

She rolled her eyes, that had been exactly what she knew he would say "Yes they just came out of the oven. Oh, and there's someone who wants to talk to you as well."

"What? Who?" he asked puzzled.

"Just go. And be nice." She told him giving him a little push toward the kitchen where Nathan was.

Lucas stepped into the kitchen, wondering who would be at Haley's house wanting to talk to him, "Nathan?" he exclaimed surprised to see him sitting there.

"Turning to look at him, Nathan smiled uncertainly at Lucas. "Hey Luke."

Lucas frowned in confusion, "Hi Nathan, what are you doing here?"

"I came to talk things over with Haley. Try and make things better."

Lucas nodded seriously, "And have you?"

"I think I've started with Haley. But I need to make it right with you first."

Lucas nodded again. "I get that you think I took her side, and in a way I did but I'm not sure it's that simple Nate. Ephraim told me you were drinking again for a while there. I would have helped you if you had trusted me, but you didn't so I stayed away. You don't have to apologise.

"Yes I do. You were her friend as well as my brother; I shouldn't have seen it as taking sides." Nathan explained, "I do have the drinking under control and I won't touch it again. I'm sorry for being such a jerk, man."

Lucas smiled at him, pleased that he seemed to be dealing with everything now, "It's cool Nate. You were hurting."

Nathan grinned thankfully at his brother, "Thanks Luke. It sort of sucked not having you round all the time anyway."

"Yeah, you too little brother." Luke agreed. "Oh and one more thing Nate. You did send Rachel packing right?" Luke wondered thinking back to the other night.

Nathan chuckled remembering how Rachel had let her true colours out during their little date at Tric. "I sort of didn't have to. Turns out she doesn't really like kids. She walked off muttering something about finding an old man to seduce. I really don't think I'll be seeing her again. Not that I want to."

"Good" Luke laughed, it didn't sound much like Rachel had matured since High School. "So what about you and Hales?"

"Ollie told me about Daunte when she saw the divorce papers Haley sent. I came right here and we talked. I sort of wish I had stopped being such an ass and listened sooner. I mean, you know I never really moved on from her, I was just so angry but I think the thought of completely losing her again and divorcing, I just couldn't. So I dunno. I think we're gonna try and take it slow, no divorce. Get to know each other a bit and forget all the anger."

Luke smiled, "And Ollie? Is she ok with this?"

"I have no idea. When she first found out about Haley, she was so upset and hated her. But now, I dunno Luke. I just don't want her to get any more hurt by this than she already has been."

"Haley won't hurt her Nathan. You can be sure of that. She loves her more than you can imagine." Lucas reassured him.

"How can she? Haley hardly knows her."

"She doesn't need to."

* * *

While Nathan and Lucas were, she hoped, making up, Haley had just arrived at Nathans house. Taking a deep breath to calm herself she raised her fist to knock at the door. Before she could, however, the door flew open to reveal her daughter looking very accusing.

Without a word Ollie nodded to let Haley know to come in and went into the lounge.

"Hey Ollie" Haley smiled taking a seat in one of the soft chairs, noticing Ollie had remained standing.

"You want a divorce?" Ollie practically shouted, the second Haley sat down. "You come back, make a big issue of trying to get him back and then you freaking file for divorce. It's like you're playing sick little games with us or something." She accused pacing around the room, seeming quite distressed.

"No," Haley said softly standing up. "Ollie?" she put a hand on the girls shoulder in an attempt to settle her down and stop her pacing. It didn't work. "Ollie?". Ollie still didn't look at her. Haley put both her hands, one on each of Ollies shoulders and squeezed them gently, turning Ollie to face her. Once more she said, a little louder this time, "Ollie!"

Snapping out of it, Ollie blinked and looked up at Haley. Ollie's body was trembling. It had all gotten too much for her. Protecting her dad, dealing with having Haley around, finding out about Daunte and trying to get everyone happy again. And now this, she couldn't handle it anymore; nothing good seemed to be coming out of anything. So she was breaking down.

Worriedly, Haley led her to the couch and sat her down.

"What's going on?" she heard a male voice say angrily .

Looking up Haley saw Ephraim entering the room eyeing her warily before taking a seat next to Ollie and wrapping his arms around her protectively whispering softly into her hair. Glaring up at Haley, he demanded, "What happened?"

"I don't know", Haley whispered hollowly, distraught at seeing Ollie this way. "I just came in and she…"

Ephraim nodded his expression softening as he saw that Haley was terrified by this. "Ok, um can you just give us a second?"

Nodding Haley stood and went into the kitchen to do as he said.

After a couple of seconds, he stood too; making sure Ollie was ok and followed Haley into the kitchen. Haley was leaning against the counter with her head in her hands, utterly defeated.

Ephraim found a box of tissues and handed it to her wondering if either of the two females would need them. She turned to head back into the lounge but he noticed her hesitating, "What do I do?" she asked pleadingly.

"Love her."

Surprised to hear something so raw come from someone so young she turned to him with her brow knotted. "What do you mean?"

He paused for a second thinking of a way to explain. "Well, Brookes not my real mom. She adopted me when I was 4 from a foster home my parents put me in because they didn't give a damn about me. At first when I came here to live with Brooke, Nathan and Ollie, I didn't know what a real family was like because I had never had one and for the longest time after coming here, I was terrified my birth parents would come and take me back again." He swallowed. "It's the same with Ollie, she never had a mom and then you come and she gets to know you a little and starts to like you. And for her, you filing for a divorce is essentially what my birth parents taking me away would have been for me."

Haley nodded understanding exactly what she had to be for Ollie. Looking at the young boy, who was so much wiser than his years in the eye she asked, "Your fear went away?"

"It did" he stated with finality, holding open the door back to the lounge for her. No longer wary of her intentions toward one of the people who were responsible for ending his own fears back when he was a kid.


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

The lounge seemed huge. Couches that looked as if ten people would fit comfortably and a television that couldn't fit into one focus. Ceilings and walls that seemed to stretch for miles. Or maybe it was just that to Haley, Ollie looked so small.

With her knees drawn up to her chin and her arms wrapped tightly around them she looked so overwhelmed and helpless. Taking a deep breath she approached Ollie and set the tissue box down gently beside her. Ollie didn't turn to look or respond in any way to Haley's presence; instead she just continued to stare blankly at the opposite wall.

Haley sat down beside her, "Ollie?" she whispered.

The younger girl tore her gaze from the wall and rested he cheek on her knee so that she was facing in the direction of Haley. Still though, she wasn't looking at her directly.

"I don't want a divorce from your father. I never have." Haley began.

"Then why?" Ollie asked weakly, all strength gone from her shaky voice.

"For Nathan. I thought it was what he wanted."

Ollie shook her head.

"Yeah I know that now. Nathan came around before and we talked. We're going to try get along though, take things slow. Does that sound alright?"

Sniffling, Ollie shrugged; not really seeing how all this could turn out alright.

Reaching over and brushing a strand of dark brown hair out of Ollie's eyes, Haley smiled kindly at her "You can trust me Ollie. I promise I don't want to hurt you or your dad."

Ollie's mouth twisted uncertainly, as much as she liked and wanted to trust Haley, something was still stopping her from being able to let her all the way in. "You hardly know us though, how can you even know if you'll want to stay or not. You shouldn't make promises you don't know if you can keep."

Haley ran her eyes slowly over her daughter, taking her in. Ollie was right, they did hardly know each other, yet for some reason Haley still felt a bond to her that she couldn't even describe, she just didn't know how to make Ollie see that.

"OK, no promises then." She began, "Nathan and I will just wait and see what happens between us. But, you're right about me and you, we do hardly know each other and I know it might be a little strange at first, but, well, you are my daughter and I do want to get to know you and be a part of your life, even if you can't believe me right now."

Ollie's eyes briefly flickered upward to directly meet Haley's and within them she saw nothing but honesty. It was odd, even though Ollie had known for a while, it was the first time Haley had explicitly referred to Ollie as her daughter. In fact it was the first time anyone had really said it outright to her like that.

"You're my mother," Ollie stated, finding it almost as strange to say as it was to hear. The truth was though, even though she sort of liked the idea of it, in reality, she had no idea what it was like to have a mom.

"Yes I am." It felt strange and new to actually be able to call Ollie her daughter for Haley too. "It's all kinda weird, isn't it?" Haley smiled, trying to lighten the mood by softly nudging her.

A small smile broke through onto Ollie's face as she heard that Haley seemed to be thinking pretty much the same way she was, "Yeah. Just a bit." Ollie agreed, playing it down a bit sarcastically.

Haley chuckled, "So you're ok?"

Shrugging, Ollie said "I guess, umm thanks though."

"What for?" Haley asked without a clue of what Ollie could possibly be thanking her for.

"I dunno. For caring." Ollie answered completely genuinely without a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Haley smiled, "Of course. Any time you need someone other than your dad. I'm here, Ok? And you're welcome at my house any time. I just want you to know that."

Ollie nodded, a hardly noticeable smile appearing on her face, "Really?"

"Yep. No more bottling all this stuff up, okay?"

"I wont" Ollie reassured Haley, meaning it.

"Good" Haley grinned, "And we'll try to stop giving you things to bottle up in the first place.

Ollie let out a small laugh. She didn't know how, but Haley seemed to understand exactly how she was feeling. Now she just hoped, Haley and her dad would be able to see things eye to eye from now on. Thinking of which,

"Haley?" Where is dad? Because, I mean he went to your house to talk to you, but you're here."

Haley chuckled, "We talked and then Luke showed up. I think, well I hope they're making up."

"'Bout time" Ollie said rolling her eyes. "This has to be the most stubborn family in the world."

"You're definately right about that Ollie"

* * *

In his room, Ephraim was idly beating at his drums, wondering what was currently happening with his friend and her mother. While he still tried to play a lot and pour his soul into his music, since Ollie, his musical partner had stopped playing, it hadn't quite been the same. Sure, he had found playing a full length performance with Jeremy at Tric amazing, but he'd also missed having his best friend up there with him.

Distantly, he heard the snap as a door shut and then a second later heard a knock on his own door. Setting down his drumsticks he called,

"Come in."

The door slid open and Ollie entered before slumping down onto his bed.

"You Ok?" he asked.

"Yeah." She smiled leaning back against the headboard. "You?"

Ephraim frowned, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Isn't it hard, talking about your birth parents and everything?" she asked, having over heard him before.

He shrugged and picking up the drum sticks began to absentmindedly tap them to the cloth on the drum, "I don't really think about it. I just said what I had to, to get Haley to go back in."

"Really?" she asked not fully believing that was the truth.

"Sort of," he said with a small chuckle, shaking his head.

Ollie could tell it wasn't really something he wanted to talk about, "Ok" she nodded.

He smiled, silently thanking her for not keeping on about it, "Come here" he beckoned.

Puzzled she stood and walked over to him, he had shuffled over on the stool so there was room for both of them to sit at the drum kit. She sat down beside him not sure what he wanted.

"Here" he said placing his sticks in her hand.

"What?" she asked still puzzled.

"Bang them." He told her gesturing to the kit, "You'll feel better."

"I dunno" she looked at him uncertainly; music was still something she wasn't so sure about.

"Come on. I'm not asking you to sing, or to play the guitar. Just bang it. Trust me Ollie."

Hesitantly she raised one of the sticks and brought it down on the hi-hat, causing a high ding to ring out. A thump below her caused her to look down and see Ephraim's foot operating the bass drum. He raised his eyebrows at her, telling her to continue. Grinning, she brought the sticks back down again forming a rough beat over Ephraim's bass.

Admittedly, she wasn't very good and there wasn't really a steady or tuneful beat, but it was still music. Playing it felt good too. Ephraim was right; something about repetitively banging on a mix of cloth and metal was actually making her feel a lot better.

Without really knowing why, Ephraim began to laugh. Perhaps it was a mixture of the look of determination on his friends face, or the uneven beat they were churning out together. Hearing his laughter, Ollie glanced up at him developing a small smile before laughing too, simply because he was laughing.

So, the two friends sat side by side, letting the mix of self made, uncoordinated music and laughter melt away their troubles.


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

In her class room at Tree Hill High School, Haley was sitting on the floor eating her lunch alone, an almost daily occurrence. If she wanted to, she could eat in the staff room instead of alone, but whenever she did, it felt completely strange. Firstly due to the fact that most of Tree Hill's current teachers had been here back when she was in High School herself and she felt a little uncomfortable mingling with them. And secondly, all those that hadn't taught her, seemed to look down on her and treat her like a bit of a diva. So she stayed away.

Sometimes Luke came by and ate with her, but most days he went home to see Peyton and Larry during lunch period or was busy marking paperwork. However, unlike Luke, Haley had no one to go home to and being a music teacher, there wasn't ever much paperwork that needed marking.

Absentmindedly picking at the wrapping of her sandwich with her thoughts miles away, she was startled to hear the handle of her door move. Flicking her eyes upward toward the window on the door, she found Nathans eyes looking back at her. She felt an intense sense of Déjà vu as she opened the door, almost expecting him to hurriedly continue down the corridor like he had a few weeks ago, the day before the Herons Beach trip. But he didn't.

Instead, he smiled at her and asked, "Want some company?"

Haley's heart soared. For, although she and Nathan had agreed to be civil and get along, she hadn't expected him to voluntarily spend his time with her. Trying to lessen the massive grin, she knew had probably erupted onto her face, she answered happily,

"Sure."

Following her into the class, Nathan couldn't help but watch her, taking in everything that had changed about her and everything that hadn't. She took a seat on the floor, causing him to look at her in confusion.

"Why are you sitting on the ground?" He gestured to the desk and multiple chairs in the class as he asked.

She shrugged, "There's so much more room on the floor than stuck in a chair."

Nathan chuckled, finding it a little strange but taking a seat on the floor as well.

Pleased that he had decided to sit on the floor with her, she playfully asked, "So what do you have for lunch?"

"Uh Ham and lettuce sandwiches," he told her. He felt like a little kid again, sitting on the ground with his sandwiches. "What about you?"

"Egg on mine." she scrunched up her nose, even though she had packed it herself, Nathans sounded so much better, "Wanna trade?"

He laughed as he nodded and handed her his sandwiches. Even after all this time, Haley still had the innocent and sometimes childlike personality she had had in High School.

"Thank you," she smiled happily. Just being near Nathan, and him not being angry was making her feel so good, giddy almost.

"So, you don't like the staff room either?" he asked, making conversation.

"No! It's so weird in there right? Some of those teachers must have worked here forever."

"Yeah, I know. Ollie has the same math teacher I had freshman year and I'm pretty sure he wasn't very new back then." Nathan chuckled.

"Well how long have you worked here?"

"Oh, a few years," he answered vaguely, avoiding answering. Now that he thought about it, he had worked here for a pretty long time too.

"How long are a few years?" Haley grinned curiously.

"I've been head coach for about, uh 12 years," he muttered the last bit.

"What's wrong with that Nathan?" she asked sensing he wasn't too happy about it.

"Nothing." He told her truthfully, he loved his job. "Just seems like a long time."

"I know. We are so old"

"Oh" he scoffed, "Maybe you are, but I'm not."

"What?" Haley laughed, liking him playfully teasing her, much like they used to a lot, "You're two months older than me, grandpa!"

Nathan's smile dropped and he turned a little pale, "Don't even joke about that. Ollie's only 15!"

"Right, sorry. I forgot how protective you could be."

"Yeah umm actually Haley, about Ollie, I don't know what you said to her, but when I got home the other day after talking to Luke, she was on the drums. It's the first time since, well, since she found out about you that she has gone anywhere near an instrument. So thanks."

His words, made Haley feel warm inside. She now knew the reason for his friendliness and spending time with her today. Before, trust and fear had stood in the way of their ability to be friends. But by taking Ephraim's advice on how to talk to Ollie, Nathan was finally staring to see that she didn't want to hurt them. And because of that was beginning to trust her. That, she knew was why he was starting to let her in again.

* * *

Just like her parents, Ollie was too eating sandwiches. Unlike them however, she was not on the floor, instead, she was with her friends sitting on a bench in a courtyard.

In the distance across the courtyard, Kaleb was working up the courage to approach the group of girls. It was really bothering him that none of them ever seemed to go somewhere alone. Ollie had broken from the group a couple of times, but each time she had been accompanied by one or two of her friends. He was finding it quite unnerving really.

Taking a deep breath he resolutely set his bag on his shoulder and started walking over toward them. Being only his second day at Tree Hill High, none of them except for Ollie had met him, but as he approached, all of them turned to look at him. Under their gaze, he blushed, feeling rather self conscious.

Ollie blushed too, knowing that her typical teenage girl busybody friends were loving this.

"Hey Kaleb" she smiled, feeling the questioning glances from her friends burning into her.

"Hi Ollie," he answered nervously.

There was an awkward silence neither Ollie nor Kaleb wanting to say anything in front of her friends, and all of her friends too nosy to stop listening. Rolling her eyes at her friends, Ollie jumped off the bench and grabbed his hand to pull him away from their eager ears and across the courtyard where they could be alone.

"Sorry," he mumbled, feeling like he had embarrassed her in front of her friends. He had always been a bit socially nervous, but at Tric the other night, Ollie had seemed to enjoy dancing with him.

She laughed, "It's ok. They're just nosy. So how you liking schools far?" she asked sitting down against a tree they had come across.

His cheeks turned slightly pink again. He wasn't used to beautiful girls like her taking an interest in him, "Yeah, its ok. I got a bit lost yesterday though."

Ollie nodded smiling, finding his nervousness cute, "I can show you round if you want?" she offered.

"Umm thanks but I think I've got it now"

"Oh OK," Ollie's head dropped. She felt a bit rejected by him turning down her offer. Considering he had kissed her at Tric, she thought maybe he felt something for her as well. Even though they had only met a few days ago, she felt like she wanted to be near him. Obviously he didn't feel the same way.

Kaleb noticed her gaze drop almost dejectedly and finally saw that she might have actually asked to show him round, not because he got lost, but because she actually wanted to spend time with him. But, he'd just turned her down. Due to this, and because it had been what he had originally planned to say, he smiled, gathered up the courage and said,

"I had a really good time the other night though. Maybe, if you want to, we can umm, I dunno…?" he trailed off nervously not knowing ho to ask her out.

The smile returned to Ollie's face. He felt the same way as she did, when they were dancing, he'd felt something too, "Yes"

"Yes?" he asked happily, not 100 percent sure whether it had actually been said, or whether he had just wanted it to be.

"Yes."

His face changed from its nervous smile, to a genuine grin, "Wow, umm great."

Ollie laughed at his strange answer. "Yeah. Are you busy after class?"

He shook his head.

"Ok, meet here after the bell? She asked.

"Yep, I'll be here." He told her, mentally high fiving himself.

Ollie stood back up and glanced over at her friends, a lot of whom were looking over in her direction.

"Hey Kaleb?" she said walking closer to him, "Lets give them something to really see."

His eyes widened, just as she leaned in and for a second time they kissed, both feeling the soft spark they had felt doing the same thing a few nights earlier.


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

When thinking of a male and a female teenager, alone in a bedroom together, most people generally assume the worst to be going on. But in the case of Olivia Scott and Kaleb Morton, most of those people would be wrong, for in Ollie's bedroom, while the two were alone together, all they were doing was talking.

Kaleb was sitting on the bed, and Ollie was across the room in the desk chair, facing him.

"So your dads the coach, your uncles the head of English, your aunt runs the local club and your brothers the local musical talent?" Kaleb asked amusedly trying to figure out Ollie's family which so far seemed to be pretty significant in Tree Hill.

"Pretty much," Ollie laughed nodding "Ephraim's not my brother though. He's my cousin, sort of."

Kaleb chuckled, raising his eyebrows, "Sort of?"

"I hardly even know how myself," Ollie smirked, shaking her head. "What about you? Duncan said you moved in with him."

"Yeah, my dad and his mom are married."

"Oh, really? I've never seen you round here though, and your dads lived here for ages. Didn't you visit?"

"Not really." He answered seriously, "I was pretty angry when he got married to Duncan's mom."

"Why'd you move in with them then?" Ollie asked curiouslyleaning forward in the chair.

"Umm," he hesitated nervously, "my mom kicked me out."

"What?" Ollie asked in surprise, her jaw dropping a bit. Kaleb definitely did not seem like the type of teenager that got kicked out of home, let alone broke any rules at all. "Why?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. Her boyfriend wanted me gone, I'm not exactly into sport or anything so we didn't really get on and I guess my mom just blamed me."

"Oh Kaleb. I'm sorry." Ollie told him comfortingly, standing from her chair and going over to the bed to sit next to him. Slipping her hand into his, she softly asked, "Do you wish you could go back?"

Kaleb thought for a moment and looked up, directly at her with a small smirk, "Nah, it's not so bad here."

Ollie grinned up at him, "Well I'm glad you think that Kaleb."

He raised his eyebrows leaning toward her slightly, "Whys that?"

"Because, that means you're staying," she whispered also leaning in a fraction.

"Oh"

At first, their lips met slowly with very little pressure, both not 100 sure it was what the other wanted. But as soon as they felt the other kissing in return, both stopped holding back. Kaleb no longer felt awkward and Ollie forgot about every thing but Kaleb. The was absolutely no doubt that there was a strong connection between them.

"What the _**hell**_ is going on in here?"

Ollie jerked away from Kaleb, frightened by the sudden loud bark directed at them from her father. She heard Kaleb gulp.

"Dad. This is Kaleb Mort…" she began, choosing to ignore the fact that her dad was seething. She thought, maybe, acting as if she didn't notice his anger then he might calm down. But, he cut her off.

"I don't care who he is" Nathan snapped. "I will not have you bringing boys into this house."

Well, ignoring Nathans anger didn't seem to work in terms of abating it. Time for a different approach. Protest.

"I can do what I want" she told him, standing.

"You are only 15 years old Olivia. You live under my roof and will do as I say." Nathan ordered, using his daughters rarely used full name

Kaleb felt rather uncomfortable. The father and daughter seemed to be about to break out into a massive argument. He sort of felt like the cause. Also, Nathan was a little scary.

"I uh think I'll go," he said quietly, causing both of their faces to snap to face him.

"No," Ollie said pleadingly at the same time as Nathan said with satisfaction, "Good"

Kaleb nodded to them and headed toward the bedroom door to leave before anything further could come of this fight. Just as he reached the front exit, he felt someone beside him. Looking sideways, he found Ollie standing next to him.

"I'm sorry. Let's go" she whispered sliding her hand into his.

"Olivia!" they heard Nathan shout warningly from where he was coming down the hall.

Kaleb frowned, "Are you sure?"

In answer, she gently pulled him out the front door, firmly shutting it behind her. Before either her dad stormed out of the house, or she decided disobeying him was a bad idea, they quickly walked away down the street.

"Well, that went well", Ollie concluded sarcastically, further up the street.

"Yeah" Kaleb sighed, "So what now?"

"Do you want to go to Karen's?" Ollie asked glancing back down the street. She definitely did not want to go home anytime soon. Her dad was furious, and she was not too happy with him either.

Kaleb looked confused, "Who is Karen?"

"Oh right," Ollie remembered he was still only new in town, "The local café."

Kaleb's cheeks reddened at the obviousness of it. "Yeah ok," he agreed, hoping Ollie hadn't seen him blush. He seemed to be doing it a lot around her too.

However, above them, the sky had darkened, shades of fluffy grey shrouding out the blue and white of the fine sky. The two, caught in their own little world of drama teenage angst didn't even notice the weather swelling above them. Before they were even halfway to the café, fat raindrops began to fall on their heads. In a matter of seconds, they were soaked from head to foot. Then the thunder came.

They dashed for a tree to take cover from the sudden onslaught of rain.

"How much further is it to the café?" Kaleb asked shaking the droplets off his glasses so he could see.

"About ten minutes away," Ollie answered peering out from under the tree. "I don't think this will stop anytime soon, I can't believe we didn't see the clouds before."

Lightning sizzled off in the sky causing Ollie to jump, it didn't sound very far away, only a few seconds between the lightening and thunder.

"I don't think we should stay here," Kaleb told her seeing it as unwise to be under a tree in a lightening storm.

Agreeing with him, they started to run, their shoes squeaking from being sloshed in the puddles. There was more lightening and thunder, now even closer together. The rain only kept getting harder too.

Ollie didn't really know anyone in the area they were in. Well, only one person anyway.

Remembering what that person had told her just a few days ago, Ollie shouted over the rain, "Come this way," and began to run in the opposite direction of the café.

"Where?" Kaleb asked, puzzled by the sudden change of direction.

"To Haley's."

"Is Haley's a café as well?" he was wondering if Tree Hill had a trend of naming café's after female first names.

An amused look crossed Ollie's wet face and she shook her head, "No, Haley's not a café."

"Oh" Kaleb nodded following her off the sidewalk and past a small open gate to where she was standing in front of a nice house, "Who is she then?"

Ollie shivered from the cold. She was completely uncertain, hesitant and not ready for this. But she felt like she could trust Kaleb. He wasn't the type of person that would spread it round school and gossip.

"She's…" Ollie frowned and glanced at the front door of Haley's house unsurely, and in one quick breath said, "She's my mom." Then before he could respond, rang the doorbell.

For a few seconds, they both stood silently on the doorstep, only the thunder and patter of drips reaching their cold ears. But then, the door swung open and warmth gusted out at them, followed by, Kaleb saw, a woman, who he presumed was Haley.

Worry flashed across Haley's face, seeing the two soaking teenagers on her doorstep,

"Come in. Come in," she insisted, ushering them inside. "You must be freezing."

They entered and stood dripping on the tiles of her foyer as Haley disappeared down the hall.

"That's Haley James." He whispered to Ollie.

"No, it's Scott." Ollie replied, "Haley James Scott."

"Your mom?" he asked, not fully comprehending.

"Yes" Ollie whispered "Please just keep it between us Kaleb."

"I promise" he whispered back touching her hand briefly just as Haley reappeared carrying two towels and smiling warmly at them.

"Come into the lounge," she told them, handing them each a towel. "The fires going. Why were you out in this weather anyway?"

"Dad was being an ass." She told her, still bitter toward how her father treated Kaleb, "We didn't even notice the weather until it started pouring on us. We were on our way to the café but the lightening seemed pretty close so we came here. Oh sorry, this is Kaleb by the way.


	31. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

_Oh sorry, this is Kaleb by the way."_

"Hi Mrs, uh, Scott." He said uncertainly, "Nice to meet you."

Haley sure hadn't expected that. No one had called her by the name Scott in years. She found it especially surprising considering it came from one of Ollie's friends.

"Yeah, you too Kaleb, call me Haley though."

He let out a small breath, relieved that at least one of Ollie's parents didn't want to murder him. Also though, it was obvious to him that he didn't know the full story behind Ollie and her mom.

"So I take it you met Nathan?" she asked them figuring that was Ollie's reason for calling her father an ass.

"Hardly. All dad did was shout at us, so we just left. I hope you don't mind." Ollie told Haley.

"Not at all. You're welcome here any time you want. You too Kaleb," she said winking at Ollie, knowing exactly what Nathan was like.

"Thank you Haley" Ollie said genuinely.

Haley smiled and nodded, "Well I'll just be in the other room if either of you need anything," she told them, standing, figuring that the two teenagers wanted to be alone. Also, unlike Nathan, she thought Kaleb and Ollie's relationship seemed sweet and innocent, not completely dreadful.

"Wow, she seems really nice Ollie," Kaleb was a little surprised; he didn't think someone as famous as Haley would seem so, normal.

"Yeah, not as psycho as my dad right?" she chuckled.

"Definitely" Kaleb agreed, pleased Ollie was still able to joke about it. "He's probably just protective though. I mean I definitely don't have any kids but I think I'd be pretty mad if I caught my little sister kissing someone."

"I didn't know you had a sister. Does she live back with your mom?"

"No. Here with dad and her and Duncan's mom. She's actually my half sister."

"Really?" Ollie questioned, "I never knew Duncan had a sister either and I've know him a couple of years."

"Yeah. Becca is only 3."

"What?" Ollie laughed confused, thinking his sister was in junior high or something.

"I know. It's all those preschool boys I'm worried about." He said with his voice deadly serious.

Ollie looked at him for a second with one eyebrow raised and didn't say anything before bursting out in laughter, "Did you just make all that up?" she asked, amused.

Now it was Kaleb's turn to raise his eyebrows, "What? No," he protested.

"Seriously. Do you even have a sister?"

"Of course I do." He defended himself while laughing, "Why don't you believe me?"

"Well honestly. What could two three year olds really get up to?"

Kaleb looked thoughtful for a second before shrugging with a grin on his face as he came up with nothing, "I guess I don't have to worry then," he smirked.

As he chuckled, Ollie studied him, fairly sure that he was watching her too. His eyes squinted at the corners when he smiled as he was now, showing only their nearly black colour. His normally neat, semi curly hair was still damp after being rubbed by the towel and flicked in all directions around his face. He wasn't very tall, taller than her, but that wasn't really much of a feat. Something about him drew her to him though, something that seemed different to all the males in Tree Hill. Kaleb didn't really fit with the people she was friends with; maybe that was part of the attraction. Mostly though, it was probably the kindness and gentleness that he radiated as opposed to competitiveness that seemed to be part of most demeanours of the guys that she knew.

"Hey Ollie?" she vaguely heard Kaleb say while nudging her shoulder and breaking her from her thoughts. "I should probably get home. The rain looks like it will hold long enough to get there."

"Ok" she smiled, "Haley would probably give you a ride."

"No, its fine. I don't mind walking."

"Ok" she said getting up and following him to the door after he said a quick goodbye to Haley.

"Well see you" he chuckled.

"Yeah, soon" she told him and he kissed her on the cheek to say goodbye. "Bye"

She stood in the doorway waving as he disappeared into the street. No matter what her dad said, she didn't care. She would keep seeing Kaleb anyway.

Vaguely, from her place by the front door, Ollie could hear Haley talking to someone, presumably on the phone seeing as it had rung a moment ago.

In fact, Haley was actually on the phone to the very person Ollie was angry with, Nathan. Just a few minutes ago he had rang her.

"Hi it's Nathan" he had started, "Have you seen Olivia?"

He sounded cross and there was a blunt edge to his voice. She had also never heard him call Ollie, Olivia.

"Nathan calm down."

"Haley! Have you seen her?"

"Yes she's here. Bu…

Dial tone cut her off as she was about to continue speaking, clearly Nathan had hung up on her. Ollie had been right, he was angry.

A small shuffle near the exit of the room caught her attention. Ollie, after seeing Kaleb off and hearing Haley on the phone had come into the room, sensing from the tone of the conversation that it was her father on the line.

"So that was dad right?" she asked taking a seat at the table where Haley was. Seeing Haley nod, she continued, "Did he sound mad?"

"Yeah, he hung up pretty quick though."

Ollie nodded grimly and Haley could tell from the girl's expression that she was pretty mad with her dad right back.

"So," Haley began lightly to try and get Ollie's mind off her dad, "You really like Kaleb, huh?"

Just the question brought a smile to Ollie's face, "Yeah he's great. He's so much different than all the other guys around here you know? Like he actually cares about things more than sport."

"That's good," Haley smiled, "He seemed to be pretty into you as well, the other night at Tric."

Ollie blushed remembering her rather promiscuous dancing; she hadn't really thought that people other than her dad would notice. But, at school, her friends had already made a big deal about it, and now it seemed Haley had too.

"Um….." Ollie chuckled awkwardly, "That was sort of to annoy dad. I didn't like how he was tre…" she stopped speaking suddenly realising that she was about to admit that it had been because of how Nathan had been treating Haley. Stammering pretty much un-understandable gibberish in an attempt to cover what she had been saying. It came as a great relief when they both heard a car pull in, bringing a halt to their conversation. Not such a relief to Ollie however, was the driver of the car who was now banging mercilessly on the front door. Nathan.

The second Haley opened the door for him; he stormed right past her to where Ollie was sitting.

"Get up" he ordered, ready to march her straight to the car, "You are grounded."

"What?" she spat completely outraged that Nathan thought he was the one that was right in all this, "You can't ground me."

"I can and I am," Nathan threatened angrily, as much as he hated being angry with her, he felt she was completely out of line, firstly for ignoring and walking out earlier and for her backtalk now. To him, she never used to be like this, he had no idea what had caused the change though, "Go, get in the car _right_ now Olivia."

Haley could hear everything they were saying in their heated argument from the other room where she had stayed, feeling a little like an intruder. Honestly, she did feel Nathan was being completely unfair and really felt for Ollie. She just didn't know if it was her place to intervene though.

"No!" she heard Ollie shout at her father.

A second later Ollie appeared in front of her with Nathan just behind. Neither looked overly happy.

"Tell him Haley" Ollie pleaded, "Tell him I did nothing wrong, please. You met Kaleb."

Haley glanced helplessly with wide eyes from Nathan to Ollie with no idea what to say. While she felt that Ollie was probably right, if she agreed with her, Nathan would never trust or forgive her and if she sided with Nathan, Ollie would never trust or forgive her.

Using Haley silence to her advantage, Ollie, still with anger in her voice, told Nathan, "See, she agrees with me but knows you'll get mad at her."

Nathan grunted furiously then practically yelled, "Well I am your father and I am telling you that you are grounded.

"Yeah, well she's my mother so she gets a say too," Ollie yelled back.

Haley remained silent.

"Well then maybe you should live with her seeing as her rules are so perfect," he shouted bitterly.

"Fine" Ollie screamed.

"Fine" Nathan snapped and stormed back out the door, very similar to the way he had stormed in.

The door slammed behind him causing both Haley and Ollie to jump and their eyes to connect at the sudden movement,

"Wait, _What?_" They both stammered at exactly the same time, both only then realising what had just happened.


	32. Chapter 31

**A/N: **Hey everyone, thanks for reading. I'm sorry the updates keep getting slower, I try to get chapters up as regularly as i can.  
OthNaley23, 8 Million Minutes does stand for roughly the amount of minutes in 15 years and being a bit of a math nerd myself, I thought it fit the story quite  
well. Glad you made the connection :)

**Chapter 31**

Pacing. Back and forth. Over and over. That is what Haley James was doing in the head coach's office at Tree Hill High. It was second period, a free one, the day after the big blow up between Nathan and Ollie. The previous night, surprisingly, had been fairly uneventful after Nathan stormed out of Haley's house, leaving Ollie there. In fact, Ollie had hardly spoken, just ate dinner and went to bed then got up for school the next morning. Almost numbly.

So now, here Haley was, in Nathans office, pacing. Nathan just sat in his desk chair waiting for her to speak. After a couple more rounds of pacing, Haley managed to conjure up words.

"You can't just kick her out Nathan." Haley stated turning to face him with her arms firmly crossed.

"What you think I wanted to?" Nathan asked incredulously.

"Well you did it, so yeah."

"Of course I didn't want to!" he exclaimed shocked Haley would even think that.

"Then why did you? If you had of just given Kaleb the slightest chance, none of this would have been triggered."

"I don't want her seeing that boy."

"Why not?" Haley demanded.

"She's too young and it will only lead to trouble."

"Too young? Nathan come on. She's nearly 16, we were pretty much married with a kid on they way by that age." She pointed out, hoping he would see his hypocrisy.

"Well, sorry I don't want her going through everything we did," he muttered wryly.

"And how is kicking her out of her home going to help? Its not that I don't want her with me but you need to support her, not push her away like your parents did to you."

"Look, it was the heat of the moment. I didn't mean it. It's her home and of course I want her there, she knows that." He sighed.

"I don't think she does know that right now," Haley told him sadly.

"Well she used to."

Haley shrugged, "So what changed?"

"Everything," Nathan muttered ashamed of himself, "While I was too drunk to even notice."

"Oh Nathan" she murmured, gently putting a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. It was clear he was still pretty torn up and guilty about it. The second her hand touched him though, she realised that the contact would probably just cause awkwardness between them, so, she quickly withdrew her hand. "Maybe she just needs time. To deal with it all" she said quickly, hoping Nathan hadn't noticed the moment of awkward contact.

"What if she won't come home?" he asked helplessly not having noticed the moment at all.

"She will, you know that. It may not be straight away, but she will Nathan." Haley told him firmly.

"What if I give Kaleb a chance, you know get to know him?" Nathan asked hopefully.

Haley shrugged, "Honestly, It might help a little, but I think that the whole thing with Kaleb isn't the problem. I think that as you say, she changed somewhere along the line but it wasn't until last night that both of you chose to acknowledge it, and that's why it all blew up."

"Maybe" he sighed, knowing she was right. "Maybe she should stay with you for a bit longer anyway."

"Why?" Haley asked, wondering why Nathan wanted Ollie with her instead of him.

"Maybe all of it, the changing and the fighting, was so she would have an excuse to go to you, and get to know her mom without feeling guilty about hurting me."

Haley nodded, "It's easier to hurt someone when you're angry at them and they're angry at you." She concluded for him, understanding completely where he was coming from.

"Yeah." He nodded sullenly.

"Well she can stay with me as long as she wants."

"And she can come home whenever she wants too." He added.

"Maybe those two things are what we should tell her, Nathan."

"Ok. I will. Just, if she wants to stay with you," he started resignedly, "Please look after her."

She nodded and sent him the most reassuring smile she could conjure, wanting nothing more than to wrap her arms around him and tell him everything would work out. But she couldn't, not yet. So, instead she sent him a small wave and left his office.

Once out the door, she sighed and sank down onto one of the benches in the boy's locker room. There didn't appear to be any boys in there for the period, so she figured it was safe.

A lot had happened over the past two days, over the past few months really and Haley was still just getting her head around it. If Ollie did decide to stay with her, she wasn't fully sure how to handle it. As much as being able to see her daughter everyday filled her with joy, she didn't know how to be a proper mom. Up until now, Haley had just been trying to be Ollie's friend. But, she knew she had to be more than that now.

Many people had told her that the maternal gene just sort of kicked in when around a child, especially your own child. Haley wasn't so sure though. Maybe that rule only applied when your there from birth. She remembered feeling like she would do anything to protect her baby 15 years ago; she figured that was the maternal gene doing its thing. But after all this time she sort of feared that due to not needing it for so long, the gene may have just sort of disappeared.

Without a doubt, she knew that although she hardly knew her, she did love Ollie like she assumed all mothers loved their children. There was more to love than being a good parent though, and Haley just wasn't sure yet whether she possessed it.

Nathan too was having a hard time with his thoughts. Teenage girls. In all honesty, he'd never really understood them. Sure, he was very popular among them when he was in High School, but that in no way meant he had idea about how they thought. As a teenager himself, he'd gotten annoyed countless times when overprotective fathers were afraid he would hurt their daughters. Most of the time, their dads were right as he had usually just wanted to sleep with them. That was the problem, for while he didn't have a clue about teenage girls, he knew all about teenage boys.

Haley was right though, for although he didn't trust Kaleb, he couldn't blame this on him, or Ollie. It wasn't anyone's fault really. So, he knew that he shouldn't be angry, but for some reason he was, angry that he could only protect her so much. That is why, for now, Ollie spending time with Haley was for the best. She needed someone that had been through it all and could understand and be there without feeling angry and a compulsive need to control the situation.

Even though yesterday had been the heat of the moment and it would hurt him to say, he knew he had to give Ollie the choice of living with him or Haley for the next little while. And even though he was the one that had always been there, he knew from now on that he wouldn't always be the one chosen. For now it was probably for the best anyway. To give everyone, mostly himself, a chance to calm down and get accustomed to everything that still seemed so new.

* * *

The school day had just finished for Ollie. She was standing at the school gate chatting with some friends about to leave for work. As of yet, she had no idea about the resolve her parents had come to earlier in the day. That was about to change.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw her dad approaching. Making a quick excuse to her friends about being late for work, she took off at a quick pace toward the café.

Just as she rounded the corner to take her away from the school, she heard her dad call from not too far behind,

"Ollie, wait up. Please, I just wanna talk."

She slowed and turned to face him with a blank expression, not saying anything. Secretly, she wanted her old dad back, the one before Haley's return. Even though the drinking had stopped, just as he thought of her, he had changed. The old Dad she knew was always laughing or playing some kind of fun game to entertain people, even when the going got tough. Sure, occasionally he had seemed down and serious, but not constantly like he did now. Also, he'd always been protective, but not to this extent, he had never blamed Ollie herself, like it seemed to her he was doing now.

"I'm sorry about yesterday," he started and seeing her nod continued, "I overreacted. I've talked to Haley, and she said you can stay with her as long as you like. But whenever you're ready to come home you can. Okay?" Ollie nodded again, "I mean it's just with everything going on and all the changes, we thought maybe it's for the best if you have a female round for a while who wont get so wound up at everything. It's your choice though."

Ollie frowned and thought about it for a second. She was sick of everything at home, both of them dealing with their own stuff while trying to deal with the other too. Maybe, she thought, some time with her mother would help them, "I'm sorry too about yesterday but I think I might stay with Haley for a while," she muttered quietly not meeting his eyes.

Nathan nodded and shoved his hands into his pockets. Even though he had expected it and knew it was for the best, hearing her say it still hurt a little.

"I have to get to work," Ollie told him after a short silence.

"Okay", he smiled softly, "I'll see you soon bud." He told her to reassure her that even though she was with Haley, he would be there as much as he could.

"Yeah"

He sent her a small goodbye smile and then turned to walk back up the street in the opposite direction to where she was going.

"Dad," he heard her call after him, so he looked back and saw that she hadn't moved and had a sad look on her face, "I might have changed. But so did you."

Then she walked away and disappeared around the corner leaving him to stare guiltily at the abandoned sidewalk.


	33. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

The dinner table in Nathan Scott's home was almost eerily quiet. While less than a month ago, Brooke, Chase, Nathan, Ephraim and Ollie had squeezed around the small square table, now only Ephraim and Nathan remained. They dined on a meal of rare steak with some lettuce leaves dumped on the side in somewhat of an afterthought.

"I dropped some of Ollie's stuff round to her earlier," Ephraim told him in an attempt to break the silence.

"Thanks" Nathan mumbled playing with his food.

They continued to eat in silence again until Nathan threw his fork down onto the plate frustratedly, deciding he didn't feel like food.

"Ephraim?" he began questioningly and continued when the boy looked up at him, "Have I changed?"

Ephraim raised his eyebrows at first a little amused but then realising maybe he shouldn't be, he was not too sure if Nathan meant it as a serious question or not. It sounded like the type of question that started the type of conversations Ollie and all her girl friends were having constantly. Not the type a manly man like Nathan would ask. But he seemed serious so Ephraim dropped the amused look.

"Uhm I dunno Nate," Ephraim answered uncertainly not sure what the answer should be, "How do you mean anyway?"

"You know, am I different than before all the stuff with Haley happened?" Nathan pushed.

Ephraim shrugged. Honestly, he hadn't really seen that much of Nathan recently, sure they lived in the same house and generally ate at the same time, but since Nathan had come back from his tournament weekend, maybe even before that things had been pretty distant. He figured maybe that's what Nathan meant about changing.

"You're less, I dunno, here than before I suppose. Distant."

Dejectedly he picked his fork back up and pushed his food around on his plate some more. Nathan pondered what Ephraim had just said. "I'm here all the time though"

"Yeah, but you don't get involved in anything like you did before, well, since Haley came back I guess. Have had more of a temper too," he added before taking a sip of his juice.

Nathan nodded, accepting Ephraim's answer. It was true really. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he had played with his little niece and nephew, shot around with Ollie at the river court, or had a full on Playstation battle against Ephraim. Just being sober and around the house, didn't equate to really being there.

Maybe, because he had been unknowingly shutting everyone out, especially Ollie, now that he wanted to be involved again he was using anger toward Kaleb as the excuse to be. In reality though, he had ended up the least involved in his daughter life than he ever had been.

"Mom said this would happen though." Ephraim told him reflectively once he had swallowed his mouthful.

Nathan frowned, not too sure what Ephraim was talking about, "What would happen?"

"That everything would start to get better but then get worse again before they got good, for good." Ephraim tried to explain from his memory of what his mom had prattled to him over the phone a couple of days ago.

He had really lost Nathan now though, "Shouldn't everything be completely perfect by now then?" he asked drily, thinking that surely they must have already been through the 'worse' section of the stages to which Ephraim was referring to.

"Not really. When Haley came, at first things were as bad as they could probably get and in the rush to get away from how shit everyone felt, you all tried to get everything good again by just sort of letting it drift back to normal with the hope that it would come perfectly right. But it can't because now Haley is here and no matter how much you try, it won't go back to how it was without her here. That's why even though it all seemed to be getting ok again, it really wasn't because aiming for the old normal doesn't work anymore and it was only a matter of time until it all blew up." Ephraim tried to outline the sitution as best he could.

"So how do I get into back into the 'good' stage?" he asked trying to follow along with what Ephraim was saying.

"Uhh," he paused "I have no idea. You might have to ask mom on that one." He smirked slightly shaking his head.

Nathan nodded. Sometimes he wished he had been born with slightly less physical abilities and some of that skill, had instead been part of whatever the hell helped people like Ephraim and Brooke seem to understand this type of stuff so easily.

* * *

The door to Haley's was locked. That didn't matter though, because Ollie had a key. She felt a bit strange using it as she let herself in after work. Sort of like, really she should be knocking instead. But she supposed she should get used to it. Once inside she closed the door behind her.

It was pretty late; she had been making up some of the many hours at the café that she had missed of late. Having already eaten at the café, she headed to the spare bedroom that she was using instead of going to the kitchen. She threw her stuff on the bed and sat down. There were some bags in the corner and she figured her dad, or Ephraim had dropped off some of her stuff. Maybe even Haley had picked it up. Silently thanking whoever had brought them, she hunted through the bags until she found some more comfortable clothes than the uniform she wore to work. Slipping them on, she, for the first time noticed the sound of the shower going in the bathroom down the hall. She couldn't be sure though whether it had just started or if it had been going since she got back.

Walking softly out of her room she peered both ways as if she were about to cross a road and then padded across the hallway into the door opposite her own. Haley's room. It wasn't so much snooping as it was pure curiosity. Haley was nice and seemed to care and everything, but Ollie just felt like Haley should be different than she was. More superficial and famous than she seemed, Ollie was still looking for clues as to whether, so far Haley had been being real or whether it was for her image.

So in other words, maybe she was just snooping.

The room looked pretty much like most bedrooms did. A double bed, bed side table, closet, draws and a bookshelf. It wasn't over the top like the celebrities rooms that were often showed on TV as bright perfect and immaculately shiny looking. Instead it looked lived in with a couple of clothes over a chair and some much loved looking books open on the side table. Where she had expected framed golden records or something like that to be, there were photos instead.

Some were pretty old. She recognized a lanky little blonde boy who looked about 6 to be Lucas with a young Haley wedged between him and a little nerdy looking kid with a big mouth at the river court. That was probably the oldest one, there were more though of her Uncle, Haley and their friends at different ages, sometimes featuring Nathan, Brooke and Peyton as they got older. Some were of an older couple and people she didn't recognize. The thought struck her for the first time that she probably had grandparents and other aunts and uncles, cousins too, that might be the people in some of the photos. It wasn't them that caught her attention though; it was 3, set on the bedside table. Two of them she had seen before, recently. They were exact copies of the two from the box where she had found her birth certificate. Lastly, was a picture of Ollie herself, as a kid, grinning widely as Nathan piggy backed her in the park. The memory of it brought a small smile to Ollie's mouth. She remembered the day in the park. It had just been she, her dad, Lucas and Elise who had been about 4 at the time. Even though she had never seen this photo before, she could still see Lucas snapping it in the back of her mind.

It touched her that Haley had all the photos there. In her room for her alone, it obviously wasn't for the world to see. It wasn't for publicity or good image.

It was because Haley was being real after all.


	34. Chapter 33

TVCrazed: Hope this chapter begins to answer you question.

**Chapter 33**

Ollie's mind was completely at ease. The pictures in the room didn't creep her out or make her angry at Haley for having them. She figured they were a big enough clue to Haley's intentions. Maybe fame didn't mean anything.

Feeling that she no longer needed to snoop, she turned toward the door to leave Haley's room before she finished her shower. But something Ollie hadn't noticed so far caught her eye. It was a guitar. Acoustic, and with shiny pale wood, it leant against the side wall where it had been concealed from her view by the bookshelf. It was a beauty of a guitar. As it neared the edges of the face, the pale wood color sharpened to become dark, a Celtic knot wove its way around the noise hole. The neck was dark with shiny silver frets and the tuner keys were pearly white ebony.

Without knowing why, Ollie moved toward it, hardly feeling herself taking the steps, as if she were floating. Reaching it, her fingertips grazed its surface. It was as smooth as it looked. Before she even realized what she was doing, she was seated cross legged on the floor with the instrument in her arms. Just like her own, now not-so-whole guitar had, it fit perfectly in her lap and under her arms.

So wrapped up in the guitar and the longing from the realization of how the simple instrument made her feel so complete, she didn't notice the sound of water running come to a halt down the hall. And then a few minutes later when she finally got over the hesitation and let the tips of her fingers run over the strings soundlessly, she didn't notice the door down the hall opening either, or footsteps padding toward the room.

She did, however notice when Haley suddenly walked into the room.

Ollie's eyes widened and she abruptly stood and placed the guitar back in its place against the wall as quickly as she could. Her face was filled with sheepish guilt.

"I um… I was…," Ollie stammered blushing as she fished through her brain for an excuse of why she was in the room, "I was just looking for some, uh, socks." Ollie told her feeling like an idiot knowing there was pretty much no chance that Haley had not seen her with the guitar.

Haley was trying her hardest not to grin. Ollie had a look on her face much like a little kid who just got caught stealing from the cookie jar. "Socks?"

Ollie blushed and swallowed, "Yeah there, um aren't any in my bag. I was wondering if I could, ah, please borrow some?"

"Sure," Haley nodded still with a slightly amused smile. Going over to the draw she pulled out a balled up pair and threw it to Ollie across the room

Catching them easily, Ollie thanked her, pulled them on and hurried from the room. Chuckling, Haley threw her used towel onto the laundry pile and left the room as well.

Across the hall, the door was open, and Haley could see that Ollie's room was empty. Stopping for a moment as she got an idea, she listened and could hear sounds coming the living room. Melting backward into her own room, she reached for the guitar that she had known Ollie had been holding. Still listening to make sure she could still hear the noise in the living room and no closer, she slipped the guitar into Ollie's room and leant it against the wall in there. As she did so, she noticed a few pairs of socks lying on the top of the clothes in Ollie's open bag.

When she reached the kitchen Haley was still grinning at her daughter's innocent yet obvious lie.

Placing the plate she had used earlier, into the dishwasher, she called, "Hey, Ollie have you eaten?"

"Yeah, at the café," Ollie called back.

"Ok. How was work?" she asked, coming into the room and sitting down in an armchair.

"Alright." Typical teenage answer there. Ollie definitely did seem more comfortable than she had the previous night though. "Karen said you used to work for her."

"Yep when I was about your age, before I went on tour," she remembered the many hours she'd spent in that warm homely café when she had been young.

"Did you like touring?"

Haley shrugged, "It was pretty exciting the first time but all the cameras and groupies and stalkers, they weren't too exciting."

Ollie raised her eyebrows, "You seriously had stalkers?"

"Oh yeah, it was crazy." Haley laughed, "Especially concerts."

"I went to one once."

"Really?" Haley was surprised, "One of mine?"

"Yeah. Jess and I bought tickets for one of your Washington concerts last summer. We caught the bus up. I still don't think dad knows. He thinks I was at Jess's the whole time."

Haley wasn't sure whether to tell her how dangerous that had been, or to be stoked she had come to a concert; "I can't believe you were there and I didn't even know."

"Well I had no idea who you were back then either." Ollie shrugged.

"Did you ever wonder about having a mom?" Haley asked curiously.

Ollie shrugged, "I dunno." And she really didn't, as a really little kid she had automatically assumed Brooke was her mom, as she got older and realized that wasn't true, decided that if whoever her mom was, didn't want to be around, then Ollie didn't want her to be. Sometimes though she had imagined some big storybook reunion, full of hugging and tears of joy, guess real life didn't turn out so much like that though. She shook her head, "What about your family?"

"What about them?"

Ollie furrowed her forehead as if the question she was asking was quite obvious. "Do you have one?"

"Yeah of course I do," Haley laughed, "I have parents and 5 brothers and sisters."

"Do they live round here?" Ollie asked, hoping that she hadn't met them lots of times without even realizing it.

"No, all my brothers and sisters left as soon as they finished high school and my parents when I moved in with Nathan."

"And they just let you move in with dad?"

Haley shrugged, "I guess. They trusted us I suppose."

Ollie nodded and a thought occurred to her, "Does dad actually think that me and Kaleb are going to do what you and dad did?" she asked incredulously.

"I don't know, he hasn't said it. But it makes sense." She answered realizing that that may actually be the root of Nathans insecurities. Being abandoned again, this time by his own daughter. Then again, he _had_ agreed to let her stay with Haley.

"But it doesn't," she groaned. "I don't want to get married for years. I think you two must have been completely out of it to get married in high school."

Haley laughed, "We definitely were not 'out of it'!"

"Still, it's a little weird."

"Trust me, I've heard that a million times." She pointed out, "But look, everyone's scared of something, and I guess Nathan has more in common with Peyton than anyone's thought."

Ollie chuckled wryly. She had seen a lot of Peyton's artwork from high school and knew exactly what Haley meant. "Do you think I should go home? Like not right now, but maybe soon. Or he might think I have run off with Kaleb."

"Yeah I think you should. I mean, you can stay here, but you should be in your own home" Haley said, even though Ollie leaving again made her feel a bit sad in a selfish sort of way.

"I suppose," Ollie shrugged and stood up, "I think I'm gonna go to bed."

"Ok." She watched as Ollie started to leave, "Hey Ollie. Just a suggestion, maybe when you do go home you should try to resist the temptation to sneak to concerts or make out with boys in your bed room. It might help with Nathans wellbeing a little."

Ollie blushed, turning completely red, not having any sort of reply, she simply grinned embarrassedly said, "Goodnight."

Haley grinned back, "Sleep well."

By the time Ollie got to her room, her face was starting to cool; she hadn't expected Haley to say that, she didn't even know how Haley knew about her making out with Kaleb. Turning on the light beside the bed and closing the door behind her, she threw on some pajamas. It wasn't until she was in bed that she noticed the light reflecting off something that hadn't been in the room earlier. Haley's guitar.

Hopping out of bed and going over it, the previous conversation, and Haley catching her in her room played out in her head. Not once had Haley mentioned finding Ollie in the room hurriedly putting away the guitar, or called her on the unlikelihood of the sock story. Not once had she even hinted that she knew what Ollie was really doing. Yet, there the guitar was, and the only way it could have got there, was Haley.


	35. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

A white picket fence. A golden Labrador puppy. Toddlers with cherub faces and blonde curls. To Ollie, Luke's family had always seemed right out of a TV show, especially compared to her own rather dysfunctional family anyway. But it was time for that to change. Ollie wanted her own white picket fence and picturesque family and for that she needed her uncles help.

Yesterday, had been the day she had gone home after spending the rest of the school week with Haley. Nathan had been thrilled. She could tell he had tried hard to be like he used to as well, fun and caring. He had even asked, conversationally, not furiously, if she was seeing Kaleb in the weekend and didn't fly off the handle when she said that she was.

Haley though, had seemed a bit sad to see her leave. Ollie did feel a little bad for her being all alone even though her family lived just a couple of minutes drive away. Even though a few months ago, she never would have thought it possible, she and Haley had bonded. They actually had a lot in common and Ollie felt completely comfortable around her now.

Now, all that was needed was a little push to send Nathan and Haley back together. That's where Lucas' aid came in. She hoped. She just had to run it by him first.

"Hi Uncle Luke," she smiled as sweetly as she could as he opened the door.

Lucas rolled his eyes. He knew that tone of voice very well. Peyton, Brooke, Elise, Haley, his mom, even Penny used it, all when they wanted something from him.

"What do you want this time?" he groaned jokingly.

"What makes you think I want something?" she asked innocently, "Can't a niece just want visit her favourite uncle?"

"Umm not if she's anything like my only niece, or any female I know."

"Fine" she rolled her eyes, dropping the sweetness. "I want your help with something."

Lucas laughed, "Yep that's more like it."

"If your not going to help me, I'll just…" she raised her eyebrows hoping he would catch the hint.

"Okay okay. What do you need help with?" he surrendered interrupting.

She smirked. Yeah, she had him wrapped around her little finger. Always had.

"Well, you know that I went home yesterday?"

He nodded.

"And Haley seemed a bit sad. So I was thinking that she pretty much wants dad but is too scared of being turned again down to make a move. And dad pretty much wants her, but he's too stubborn to make the first move. So I was thinking we could make the first move for him."

Luke chuckled, "Okay _Brooke Davis_ what exactly did you have in mind?"

She glared at him, "I'm going to take that as a compliment Lucas, but be serious."

He held his hands up in defense. "Sorry"

"Good" she remarked determinedly, now she was on task she didn't want to waste time, "I was thinking we could set them up to meet somewhere and then since, really its what they both want, neither will leave."

Luke sighed; he sometimes did wonder whether Brooke had rubbed off onto her a bit much when she was young, "Are you sure they want this Ollie?"

"Yes" she replied adamantly.

"It's not just what you want?"

She paused slightly before saying "No, it's definitely what they want."

"And you know it could turn out horribly?"

"Luuuke!" she groaned, "Will you help me or not?"

"Fine but I had nothing to do with it if anyone asks." He warned.

She nodded. "I was thinking tonight. Neither is busy; I just don't know how to pull it off."

"You mean you can't afford to pay for whatever you need?" She looked sheepish and he chuckled knowing he was right, "Okay, where were you thinking of sending them?"

She continued looking sheepish.

"You haven't got any sort of plan for this have you kid?" he laughed, shaking his head.

"Umm not really," she admitted. "Didn't really think past the basic idea."

"So I thought. How about you lure them both to the beach at 7? I can take care of the rest."

"The beach?" she asked doubtfully. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure. That beach used to be one of their places."

"Okay 7 o'clock, thanks Luke." She said before leaving shortly after to figure out how to get them both to the beach without them being suspicious.

The second she left, Lucas was on his phone right away to call the queen of this type of thing, the one and only Brooke Davis.

* * *

It really was quite a good idea. Ollie thought so anyway as she looked over the candle lit table on the beach with the vase of little purple flowers on top. The evening was warm due to the seasons beginning to give way to summer and a slight sea breeze flowed off the calm ocean, she could tell it was going to be a clear night.

Pulling out her mobile phone she dialed.

"Hey dad," she said into the phone. "Can you please come pick me up?"

"Uh, yeah where are you?"

"The beach. The entrance closest to the beach house."

"Ok. I'll be there soon. Bye."

He hung up. Instead of putting her phone away, she searched though her contacts for Haley's number.

"Hello, Haley speaking." She heard when the phone connected.

"Hi Haley. It's Ollie."

"Oh hey, what's up?"

"I'm just at the beach. Do you think you could give me a ride home please? Dads not answering his phone."

"Sure. What part of the beach are you at?"

"Do you know where our beach house is?"

"Yep."

"Okay. I'm at the beach entrance car park closest to it."

"Alright, I'll come now. See you soon."

"Okay thanks."

Ollie smirked. That had been easy. She had now done all she could though, the rest was up to them. Before either could get there, she had run away up the dunes toward the beach house to make sure neither could use her as an excuse to run from the night themselves.

Barely had she disappeared up the dunes when the first of her parents pulled up to the car park where she had been, but moments earlier.

From inside her car, Haley scanned the car park. She didn't see anything until a pair of headlights from another car came into the lot. Ignoring the car she continued to look around for Ollie. So, she was somewhat surprised when her gaze swung back around and noticed Nathan, who was now out of the car, had been the driver.

"Nathan?" she called as she got out, "What are you doing here?"

He looked as surprised to see her as she had been to see him. "Ollie rang me to pick her up."

She narrowed her eyes, "What? But Ollie called me."

"Are you sure?" he asked a little dumbly.

Haley rolled her eyes. "Of course I'm sure."

"Why would she call both of us?" he shook his head.

She shrugged, "she doesn't even seem to be here."

Nathan grunted, "I'm gonna check down the beach.

He headed down the path to the beach and she watched his head bobbing in and out of sight behind the dunes as he went. Halfway down though his head stopped, as did he.

"Haley", he called, "did you do this?"

"Do what?" she had absolutely no idea what he was talking about so she followed him down the path until she could see what he could.

It definitely wasn't their daughter that he had found.

Without a doubt, the little romantic setting was meant for them, the little purple flowers that was always considered to be 'their flower' gave that away.

"I guess we know why Ollie called both of us now." Haley said wryly.

Nathan let out a small laugh at her sarcasm; he always had found it cute. Then he became serious again, "So, shall we?" he gestured uncertainly at the candle lit table.

Haley smiled and seemed to ponder it for a moment, "Yes we shall."


	36. Chapter 35

**A/N** Hey everyone. Sorry it took a little longer than usual to upload, my computer crashed last night and I lost most of the chapter. Hope you like it.

Thanks for reading.

**Chapter 35**

Under the glow of the stars and flickers of candle light, the husband and wife were watching each other nervously yet with a hint of excitement. Husband and wife, technically they were, even though they really hadn't been for a long time, all the old familiar little feelings were there.

One was the flowers. The little purple ones, that grew only on the grassy bank where they said their vows for the first time. Gently, with the tip of her finger, Haley stroked one of the smooth slightly wet petals and then inhaled their sweet aroma.

"I missed these," she sighed, placing it back in the little vase. "I missed this place."

"Yeah a lot's happened on this beach. Especially up in that beach house," he smirked.

Haley laughed, "Typical Nathan. Get your mind out of the gutter."

"What? You were thinking it too."

She didn't say anything, just blushed, hoping he couldn't tell. Truth was a few dirty thoughts had crossed her mind since finding their little date, not that she was going to admit that to him. In the back of her mind she also sort of wondered how many women he had brought here since her, then immediately felt guilty for thinking it, when she was the one that left him

When a couple of seconds later, a young man wearing a black waist coat and white shirt showed up next to their table with two silver trays, a bottle of wine, and a pitcher of water, she was immensely thankful that she would no longer have to answer Nathan's last statement.

"Macaroni Cheese for you ma'am and Rare Sirloin Steak for you sir." The waiter said formally setting the dishes, which he had been advised by tonight's employer as the favourite meals of the two people he was serving, in front of them.

Nathan thanked the waiter and then asked him, "So, who hired you?"

The waiter just smiled as if he had no idea what he was talking about. "Enjoy your meals." And then turned and disappeared back in the direction he had come from.

Shrugging, Nathan turned back to Haley. "So Mac n Cheese, Huh?"

She giggled, "Some things never change" and shoveled a spoonful into her mouth.

"Yeah I know," he told her seriously, intently gazing at her.

She felt incredibly self conscious with him staring at her so seriously. The playfulness was gone from his voice, "Nathan, I…"

"Shh," he breathed and gently slid her hand into his own across the table, "You don't need to be nervous Haley."

Haley looked down at their intertwined hands. His palm was warm against hers and their fingers fit so perfectly together. Of course she was nervous though, this was Nathan, and she just wanted to be everything she could, to make up for all the time she was away.

Nathan noticed her silence. He clenched his jaw, taking the signal badly, "Do you even want this Haley?"

She leant back in surprise, "Of course I do Nate. It's all I want. Do you?"

He gripped her hand harder, "Yes. Just let me in. Tell me what's bothering you."

Haley hesitated then revealed, "I don't want to screw this up again.

Nathan smiled slightly and gently leaned his forehead against hers. He breathed in her smell and savored the warm breath floating onto his cheek, "You don't have to worry because I won't let you screw this up. I love you too much."

A little tear welled up in Haley's eye. She knew he had loved her once 15 years ago, but now she had thought he just tolerated her, felt fond of her. But love.

"Why are you crying Hales?" he whispered gently, wiping her cheeks with his thumb.

She shook her head and smiled, "I just missed you so much."

Leaving his chair, Nathan went round to her side of the table and pulled her into his arms. "I missed you. I missed you too." He said into her hair.

Haley burrowed into him, wanting, needing to be as close to him as she could. For so long, she had been cold and alone, his warmth felt like a safe haven at last. His arms were hard and strong, just like she remembered and he smelt faintly of aftershave. She didn't want him to let go. Ever.

He didn't want to let go either.

"Haley?" he asked, and she looked up into his eyes, "We said we would take it slow." Her face dropped just a little, "But, do you think we need to? I don't want to take it slow with you. 15 years is long enough."

She let out a breath, when he started, she had been terrified he would say they were moving too fast, that he wanted to take a step back, be friends for a while longer. She didn't think her heart could have taken that. Going up on tiptoes, just as she always had had to, to equal his height, she softly placed her lips on his hoping he would respond. He did. It was instinct really, the way they melted back into each other as soon as their lips touched.

Their food forgotten they reveled in the closeness. Nathan found himself on the sand, leaning against the back of his chair, when their lips parted gently. Haley was on his lap, her toes digging into the sand and her arms around his neck.

"I want to stay here forever," Nathan sighed against her cheek, wondering if this night would disappear after it was over.

"I wish we could too."

"It used to seem like we had so much time. But now Ollie's all grown up and it seems we're just back to where we started at the end of school."

"I know." She laid her head on his chest. "But we have time. Sure, we aren't kids anymore; maybe that's a good thing though. Maybe this time around there will be fewer mistakes."

He chuckled, "Let's hope so."

She kissed him perkily and then scrunched up her nose, "I think our dinner's getting cold."

Nathan groaned as she got up, not wanting her to move. He thought maybe if he stayed down there, she might come back. After a couple of seconds, he heard swallowing. Groaning again he shook the sand off him as he stood, and settled back down into his seat. Haley had a satisfied sort of smirk on her face.

"What are you smirking about?" he asked, smiling.

"I'm just happy."

Nathan sipped his water, "Good.''

The two sat in a comfortable quiet finishing their meals. Where there had been a slight edge of awkwardness earlier, now there was a casual togetherness. Their hands would brush without one jerking away but instead savoring it as a sweet little moment.

As he took his last bite, Nathan leaned back and put his hands behind his head. Haley was staring at him curiously.

"What?" he asked with a smirk.

She blushed; his smirk had always gotten to her, "Where are we going to go from here? I mean we can't pretend tonight didn't happen. Obviously Ollie and whoever was helping her know about this. But what if they aren't ok with us? Or think we're making a mista… Why are you laughing?"

"I always liked your rambling."

Haley huffed, "I wasn't rambling."

"Yes you were," he smirked, but then became serious, "But you don't have to worry. Because whatever comes, whatever everyone thinks, you won't have to deal with it alone. Neither of us will." He gripped her hand, "Neither of us will."


	37. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

She was silent. She was like a foreign spy infiltrating the white house. Sneaky, stealth and soundless. Ollie actually did think, at that moment, that she could make a pretty good CIA agent or something one day. It was Saturday morning and she was coming down the hall as quietly as she could. Her dad was eating breakfast at the kitchen counter and she didn't want him to have time to speak first. Their relationship had just come right again, and she didn't want him to direct the conversation toward her absence at the beach last night, so she needed the element of surprise. Hence the tiptoeing toward the kitchen.

"Good morning kid," Nathan greeted the second she entered the room, not even looking up from his paper. He had heard her coming from the moment she left her room.

Ollie cursed inwardly. Maybe she should forget the spy idea. As she had feared, Nathan continued speaking before she had a chance to say anything.

"You weren't at the beach when I got there last night," He accused, peering over the top of the paper to see her reaction as she undoubtedly came up with a story.

"Oh, umm… Yeah. I got sick of waiting so I walked to Jess's." Technically true. She had gone to Jess's. Just she hadn't waited at all.

Nathan nodded, carefully keeping his amused smile covered from her view by the news paper. "I thought I came quite quickly." He stirred.

"I dunno. You probably did. Jess called just after I rang you and said some of the girls were coming round, so I went there. I called here but no-one picked up." The last part was a complete lie. She knew that he probably knew what she had done at the beach last night. But no way would she admit it to him.

"Oh OK," he shrugged as if he completely believed her story. Pretending to read, he saw a shocked expression rise to her face due to him seemingly giving up so easily.

It was nice to playfully stir her again, something he hadn't done in the past few months. He knew it was probably one of the things she had been referring to when she told him he had changed.

"So what did you do last night?" she asked a little too casually.

There it was. Just as he had expected. He had known she wouldn't be able to resist, even if it would most likely blow the little cover story she had just spun.

"Nothing much," he replied shortly, not looking up.

"So you didn't see anyone?" she pestered, a little irritated in his disinterestedness.

He shrugged and lowered the paper, looking square at her with a smirk, knowing she was backed into a corner, "Should I have?"

"No," Ollie lied, trying not to smile and show it. She was glad her dad was being so light hearted about it though. "I just thought you might have, I don't know bumped into someone."

"Nope."

Her eyes widened in alarm. What if neither had seen the table at the beach? What if only Haley had seen it, and had waited for somebody to come and tell her what was going on? What if they both had seen it, but had wanted nothing to do with it?

Nathan shook his head at her sudden look of worry. "Relax, bud. Everything went how I think you wanted it to."

Ollie scowled. So maybe she wasn't the best at cover stories either. She sighed realizing it wasn't all bad. At least none of her 'What ifs' had happened. "Was it really that obvious?" she asked.

He chuckled, "Yeah it was. I'm not too sure who helped you though."

That was good. Luke hadn't been too keen for them to know he had been partly behind the rather un-subtle interference into Haley and Nathans relationship. Ollie didn't really mind if they knew she was behind it though. As long as it had gone well, which it seemed it had, Nathan seemed calm and happy, so it can't have gone bad.

"Sooo?" she asked pryingly, hoping for a little detail.

"Sooo what?" he replied, mocking the way she had said 'so'.

She rolled her eyes. "So what happened?"

"We had dinner." He said bluntly as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Ollie groaned, "You're so difficult."

"Well it isn't really any of your business is it?" he joked.

Her jaw dropped. "Of course it's my business. Without me there wouldn't even be any business." Immediately she scrunched up her nose realizing that sounded a bit strange. "I just, mean that it sort of is my business. Beside, you make me tell you what I'm doing when I go out with Kaleb."

Kaleb was still a bit of a sensitive issue, but Nathan was getting more and more relaxed about it. He'd had a bit of talk, in other words completely assessed the young mans intentions, while he was waiting for Duncan to finish up basketball practice. Nathan did have to admit, Kaleb really wasn't very much like Nathan had once been.

"True." He knew he couldn't use the 'your only 15' excuse with her anymore, clearly she didn't respond to it well "And I guess it does affect you."

She nodded him along getting a bit impatient. He wondered if this was the general dynamic teenage girls. Relationship gossiping and trying to know all the details was what teenage girls always seemed to be going on about anyway.

"Haley and I," he wondered for a second how to put it, "we are, uh, dating."

He hated that word, it was so high school and college-ish. He knew quite a few 33 year olds did date quite a lot, as a regular thing, but for him, not having been properly dating for years, the word felt a bit alien.

Ollie suddenly looked very smug.

He raised his eyebrows at her, "You look happy?"She grinned and shrugged but he could tell that she was pleased. "You know things will probably be a bit different now. Haley's still quite famous."

Ollie nodded. As down to earth as Haley was, Ollie had noticed the glints of camera lenses outside Haley's house occasionally while she had been there. And before the school board had intervened, paparazzi had milled around the school gates trying to catch a glimpse of Haley's new life. As far as she knew, Ollie had so far managed to avoid the cameras, but it was only a matter of time before someone snapped either her or Nathan. Especially now that her parents were an item. Really, Ollie still hadn't even let her friends, other than Kaleb, know she had any connection whatsoever to Haley. It scared her a little, to think that the world might want to know her business just because of who her mother was. Nathan was right, it would be different.

"I know," Ollie nodded. "I'm quite surprised your marriage and everything wasn't dug up by the media ages ago though."

He frowned; he'd wondered too at times why no press had ever brought it up. Surely, people from their high school or people who had lived in Tree Hill at the time could have leaked the story of Haley James's abandoned child easily enough. Perhaps Daunte had dealt personally with that kind of thing. Nathan shuddered at the thought; he knew what that horrible man was capable of.

"Don't worry about it. They probably never made it public because I was just a boring undergraduate who was at college with a little kid in tow and then a high school coach."

Ollie nodded, "Hope they still think we're boring."

Nathan laughed, "I think that for a while at least you might be getting a few looks in the school corridors. I'll probably get a few too."

Ollie scoffed, "You're fully pleased about that though." She teased, seeing the slightly excited look on her dads face.

He faked hurt, "I didn't even have anything to do with this. As you made clear before, it's your fault we're together anyway."

"My fault! You're the one that's practically giddy with happiness," she defended herself.

Nathan laughed. She was actually sort of right, but he couldn't tell her that. "Dude, giddy?"

Ollie looked at him wide eyed with amusement. "Er, before you mock _my_ wording you might want to make your way back from the 70's, father. No ones said 'dude in forever." She laughed well naturedly and rounded the bench to go into the kitchen.

"I wasn't even born in the 70's," he called after her, smiling at the light hearted banter that he had recently been worried might have disappeared forever.

He heard her reply and his smile just grew, "Yeah sure, whatever dad."


	38. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

Filtered early morning, late spring sunlight shone over Tree Hill High school. It was clearly nearing the summer in North Carolina State. In the midst of the lovely spring rays, Jessica Seddyn sat, restfully on a bench in front of the school, waiting for her best friend to arrive. Ollie was later than she usually was. It was strange. Jess had already seen Ephraim arrive and Ollie generally walked to school with him.

For a while now, Jess had known something was up with her friend. She first started noticing it a few months ago. First Ollie dyed her hair dark black and completely withdrew into herself. At that point Jess had just presumed she was going through some Goth or emo phase. But it wasn't that. Over time, Ollie's hair had gone back to its normal dark gold colour and she started going out more and being social again, but something was still different. It wasn't that the change was necessarily bad, Jess just wanted to know what was going on. She and Ollie had been close since kindergarten, but every time Jess had tried to ask her what was going on, she received some kind of excuse or brush off. Jess didn't want them to start drifting apart now.

Jess glanced toward the car park. She really wanted to sort this out, but was beginning to wonder if Ollie was even coming to school today. A couple of cars came into the car park, some with teachers driving and some with seniors in their battered yet loved second hand cars. After another few minutes, and another few cars, a red, quite flash looking hatchback entered the park. At first, she took no notice as it was obviously another teacher and as far as she knew, there was no reason for Ollie to be coming to school with a teacher other than Nathan or Lucas. She had already seen Nate and she knew that the little red car wasn't Lucas's. So yeah, she did a little bit of a double take when Ollie emerged from the car, followed by Haley James.

Puzzled, she watched as Ollie smiled and said something to Haley before heading toward the school. It was strange, Ollie wasn't in any of Haley's classes, and while Jess knew Haley had been interested in Ollie's music when she first arrived, that couldn't be the case now because their wasn't really any music anymore. Jess shook her head. She really had no clue what on earth was going on.

Ollie hadn't yet seen her, so when she walked past, Jess fell into place, walking next to her.

"Hello Olivia." Jess quipped.

Ollie looked at her strangely, "Hello Jessica." She greeted in the same strange way Jess had greeted her.

Subtly, Jess steered Ollie toward an isolated corner of the school, catching confused looks from Ollie much of the way. Once there she turned to look at Ollie seriously.

Under her friends silent gaze, Ollie felt a bit uncomfortable. "What's going on Jess?" she blushed.

Jess was silent for a few more seconds then began. "Ollie we have been best friends since we were 3 years old."

Ollie nodded, squinting at her a bit confused.

"So please tell me what has been going on with you lately." Jess begged.

It finally dawned on Ollie where Jess wanted the conversation to go. "What do you mean? Nothings going on." Ollie smiled, brushing it off. Then turned to head back toward the school.

Expecting this reaction from her, Jess softly grabbed her arm to prevent her from leaving, "I saw you with Haley James this morning."

Ollie spun round. She had stayed the night at Haley's last night, something she did every so often since she had moved back home to Nathan's. Sort of like split custody only without all the lawyers.

"You've been spying on me?" Ollie snapped narrowing her eyes accusingly and shaking the hand off her arm.

"No." Jess defended, "I was just waiting for you so we could talk. I've been worried about you Olls."

Sighing, Ollie relaxed. Maybe accusing her best friend of spying on her was a bit on the extreme side. "I'm sorry," she apologized for snapping.

"You _can_ trust me" Jess reassured her softly.

Ollie mulled it over in her head for a few moments before nodding. "I know." She took a seat down on the dry grass and Jess did the same.

It was not like Ollie hadn't come to terms with everything. She had, fully. She was just sort of worried if people's view of her would change because of it. With Kaleb it had been different, they had only just been getting to know each other, and he hadn't had a full opinion of her yet. To him, Haley being her mom was just another thing to learn. To Jess, it would be a major change to what she already knew of her friend. That sort of scared Ollie a little even though she had known from the moment she found out about Haley herself, that it would come out eventually. She had prolonged it as long as she could though.

She took a deep breath and began. "You know how ages ago, you were over at my house and we were listening to music or something and you said that I sort of looked like Haley." Jess nodded so Ollie continued, "Well you we right. A couple of months ago I found out Haley's my mom."

Jess stared at her dumbfounded, "No way."

Ollie shrugged, "It's true."

Jess's mouth was wide with surprise. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Ollie chuckled, "I wasn't at first but I am now."

"I can't believe I didn't guess it was this. It all makes so much sense." Jess let out a breath and grinned, "This whole time I've been terrified you had cancer or something."

Laughing, Ollie shook her head, "Nope. Nothing like that." Now, having gotten it out, she didn't know why she had been afraid. Of course Jess wasn't going to judge her for it or just want to be around her for fame by association. It didn't matter to Jess who Ollie's mom was, as long as her friend was OK.

"Good." Jess laughed relieved, "Is it weird though, like all of a sudden having a mom?"

"A little, it's sort of nice though."

Jess smiled, genuinely happy for her friend, "Yeah? It gets even better; just wait until you have both her and your dad ganging up on you about your curfew." She joked.

Ollie just laughed and hugged her friend, glad not to be hiding anything anymore. Apart from, that honestly, she was sort of looking forward to the kind of thing Jess had just said.

* * *

The room was painted cream, filled with red upholstered couch seats and smelled like fresh coffee. Of course, Nathan had been in here a couple of times before, but he had never liked it much. Today though, he and Haley had made a pact to sit in the staff room and not feel like students. Alright for her though, all the teachers had loved her in high school, him on the other hand, not so popular with them.

Haley was already in there, sipping a coffee and looking right at home. He poured himself a cup and went over, nodded awkwardly to Mr. Donald; his old Math teacher who he was fairly sure had been staring at him since he entered, and sat down in a seat near Haley.

She smiled at him, and already he felt more comfortable. He smiled back, "Hey." For a moment he contemplated giving her a small greeting kiss but hastily decided against it seeing as Mr. Donald still seemed to be staring at him. Drinking Coffee with old teachers was one thing; PDA in front of them was not.

Haley noticed what he was looking at and giggled slightly, "I don't think he's blinked once since I got here," she whispered.

He laughed and shifted slightly so he could no longer see the teacher out of the corner of his eye. He turned to Haley, feeling utterly elated to be sitting here with her without any awkwardness. "How was last night?" he asked.

"It was great," she grinned, "Ollie's great."

"Yeah, she is." Nathan was pleased. He had been a bit apprehensive about Ollie staying there for the night. Worried that maybe the only reason it had worked out the first time was because of Ollie's anger toward him, not her acceptance of Haley. Luckily though it wasn't.

"Hey Nate?" Haley asked a bit more seriously.

He looked up at her worried something was wrong.

"Before I came back, was Ollie really into her music? I mean I know that she's good, but did she love it?" She had wanted to ask the question for a while.

Nathan sighed. He knew the answer to this would probably hurt Haley. "Yeah, she did. More than basketball, more than anything." He smiled sadly. "When she was little, all she talked about was how when she grew up, her and Ephraim were going to go around the world just playing music."

She smiled, wishing she could have been there. "That's good."

Horrified, Nathan gaped at her, "How is our daughter giving up her dream a good thing?"

Haley shook her head, "Last night, I think she thought I was asleep.But I heard her playing again Nathan."


	39. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

He was quite a chef Nathan Scott. Maybe if coaching stopped working for him he thought perhaps he could get a job in a restaurant. During high school he had never really been one for the culinary arts, but it had grown on him as time went by. Tonight though, he made sure to cook with that extra preciseness and care. Neither of the kids was home, but in the spur of the moment that afternoon, he had invited Haley for dinner.

From Ollie, he sort of got the feeling that maybe Haley was a bit lonely there alone in her house most nights. Also, he had been pretty ecstatic that Ollie, thanks to Haley, was starting to do what she loved again. Mostly though, he just wanted to spend as much time with Haley as possible.

The front door opened and he smiled. He had told Haley to just come right in when she arrived, but he hadn't been sure if she would.

"Hello?" he heard her call uncertainly.

"Hey. In the kitchen." He called back.

She popped around the corner, grinning. Nathan grinned even harder.

He pulled her to him, and kissed her full on the lips, enjoying the taste of her lips, and the feel of her tongue. Simultaneously, the leaned apart, breathing lightly.

"Hi," he whispered.

She giggled, "Hi."

Releasing her, he turned back to stir his bubbling pot. He heard her giggling. "What?" he asked humouredly.

She smirked, "Nice apron." She told him jokingly.

He glanced down at his lime green plastic apron, which Brooke had given him as a joke for Christmas once. "What's wrong with my apron?" he asked faking hurt.

Haley shrugged, still smirking as he stepped toward her.

Placing his arm around her waist, he swung her up into his arms, taking her hostage. Her eyes flashed with excitement as she shrieked and clung to his neck.

"Put me down Nathan!" she squealed.

"Nope," he smirked. Haley was pretty light, so she wasn't exactly hard to hold. He could tell she was enjoying it too, even if she wasn't admitting it. He twirled her round and she shrieked, burying her head hard into his apron covered chest. "You seem to like my apron now," he chuckled slowing down the twirling.

She nodded into his chest, her cheeks flushed with the joy of being so close to him, firmly settled in his strong arms. "I do like it now," she grinned mischievously and moved her mouth toward his chin. At first, lightly pecking it, she felt his arms tighten and then reached her own arm up to run her fingers through his dark hair. Lowering his head, her mouth began to tug on his lower lip. Mouth on mouth, Nathan hurriedly switched off the stove, while keeping Haley steady in his arms and took her to the sitting room.

It was odd, how automatically, they just fell back into knowing exactly what the other liked and responded to. The last 15 years had been the longest period of Nathans life in which he had not been this close to someone this way, even longer than birth to his first time. Of course he had gone on a few dates while Haley was gone, like the one he had been on with Rachel, but not once had he progressed past dancing or a kiss on the cheek. Even if had thought he wanted to at the time, every time he tried, he felt dirty.

They were on the sofa. He had set her down gently and she had pulled him down with her. It was starting to get burningly heated. Fingers from one of her hands were caressing his head, and the fingers of the other had found their way under the apron and up though the bottom of his shirt to where she now stroked his abdomen. She seemed to know exactly what she wanted, exactly what she was doing. That scared Nathan a bit, because for the first time in his life, he felt incredibly inexperienced.

Grunting, he rolled off her so that he was sitting on the opposite end of the sofa.

Haley too sat up, a look of hurt, mixed with confusion in her eyes. "What's the matter?"

Nathan looked at her. She was so beautiful. "I just haven't done this in such a long time."

She frowned momentarily, "Neither have I Nathan."

He shook his head, "No, I mean a _really_ long time."

"Wait." She narrowed her eyes, "You think I…

"Haley," He grabbed her hand, "I do read the tabloids but I don't care. It's just; I'm not an actor or a rock star. What we had in high school might feel to you different now. That's all"

She pulled her hand from his and flattened her hair, keeping her gaze away from him, "You can't believe everything you read." she sighed. She had known this might come up; it hurt though, to be blatantly accused. Even though technically he wasn't accusing her, just forgiving her for acts the media had actually accused her of.

Nathan felt like kicking himself. All he had been trying to do was show her that none of it mattered, that everything was in the past. Instead, he had inadvertently called her a bit of a slut. "No. Haley. Haley?" he begged her to look at him. "I don't care about anything except that you're here now. Please understand. I'm not trying to upset you, just give you what you want."

Now, she fully turned to him. It seemed all they were able to do was fight. "Nathan. I get that you're curious. I am too. But what I want? You've already given me what I want. You let me back in Nate. You." She sighed. She knew that deep down, Nathan had always struggled with inadequacy when it came to how he saw him self. That's why he slept around in high school, and bullied people like Lucas, to try and feel less inadequate. She also knew exactly who had implanted in him the reasons to feel that way. "I know that you compared me to him for the last 15 years, but I am not like your dad."

Nathan looked at her shocked, "I…"

She gritted her teeth "No I'm not done. Time changed nothing. Neither did all the celebrity dates I _turned down_, nor seeing you all over Rachel." Across the cheek, she slapped him. "Don't you dare pretend like you are not good enough for me Nathan Scott."

Abruptly, she stood, and stalked into the kitchen. She wasn't angry that he thought she had been with other men, which she hadn't, she was angry that he saw it as himself failing. Seeing him like that did make her feel like Dan.

Fiddling for a second with the stove, she managed to turn it back on and get the pot bubbling again. After her little moment of physical abuse, she wasn't even sure if she was still welcome, but stubbornly decided to stay. She chopped up random vegetables, not even sure what Nathan had been aiming to make when he started cooking. It felt good to attack the bright colored pieces of nature with her knife. Not long later, she heard quiet shuffling behind her. Without even a glance over her shoulder, she continued to chop, but heard and felt him stop behind her.

He stood behind her for a few moments feeling like he should say something, but had no idea what. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head gently on her shoulder. Stiffening against him, she lay down the knife, wondering what he was playing at. They just stood like that for a while until Haley finally relaxed into him, realizing he was trying to show her he was sorry.

"Are you ok?" He asked into her neck.

She nodded, and picked up the knife again when he let go. Beside her, he began to continue to cook dinner as well.

After they had finished their rather oddly assorted meal, due to Haley not having known what he was making, they both sat down to eat.

Sitting across from him, his cheek, she noticed, was slightly pink and shiny. Softly, she reached across and ran a finger over it, "I'm sorry I slapped you Nate."

He shrugged and gave her a little smile to show it didn't matter.

They finished their dinner slowly, both getting over the effects of their fight. It had been quite silly really, a bit of a misunderstanding. Fighting had sort of just become what they were used to, so now even though they were essentially pretty happy, tension still bubbled up quite a lot.

Haley stayed and helped him clean up, both back to being lighthearted again. Still, the whole time Nathan was dreading the awkward moment that was sure to come after, the moment in which one of them ended the date. Either Haley making up some excuse to leave after an awkward silence, or the other way round, in which he gave her an excuse.

Sure enough, just after the last clean plate was stacked, there it was, the awkward silence. He could practically see her formulating an excuse in her mind.

Out of nowhere, completely unconsciously, Nathan blurted, "Stay."

She stared at him wide eyed, "What?"

He swallowed, "Please stay."

Unexpectedly, a beam broke out onto her face and she flung at him, catching his mouth on hers.

He responded to her and when she pulled away, felt a bit breathless. He smirked, "I guess that's a yes to staying then."


	40. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

The walk of shame. Well in a sense anyway. Only, Haley was not at all ashamed of what the previous night had led to for her and Nathan. No, shame was definitely not her first choice of description. The terms heavenly, hot and perfect, did, however spring to mind. Feeling Nathan inside her and being as close as any two people can be had been bliss. Bliss after 15 years of abstinence, bliss after 15 years of not having Nathan. She knew that they were moving quickly, but technically, they had been married 17 years, and she still loved him as much, more probably, than the day they said their vows in among the purple flowers and then made love for the first time.

Back near Nathans room, from the hall Haley could hear the shower running. They had woken up within moments of each other and just sort of lay there watching the other for a while. Panic, however had set in pretty quick. Both realized they had to be at work in under an hour, and Haley remembered she didn't live there; she had her own house that she had to get back to, to get dressed. For now though, she was dressed in a shirt of Nathans, and yesterday's pants.

As she headed down the hall, her head was up and away with memories of the previous night. So far away, that she didn't even see someone come out of a room into the hall.

"Haley?" the person asked. "What are you doing here?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin and just stared like a deer caught in the head lights.

"E… Ephraim," she smiled uncomfortably, blushing furiously. "I thought you weren't home."

He fought back laughter; it was clearly quite awkward for her. "Yeah I got home quite late last night." He told her, but then couldn't resist, "You must've already been in bed."

Haley could've died. Getting caught slinking from a house after spending the night, by the surrogate son, who also happened to be one of her students, of the man she had spent the night with. More than a little embarrassing.

She pulled herself together as best as she could. The least she could do was act un-embarrassed. "Well, I better go. Don't want to be late for work. I'll see you in class."

"Bye," he smirked as she hurried away.

* * *

"Hi," she smirked as she hurried toward him.

Kaleb broke out into a grin and opened his arms, "Hey" he replied, giving his girlfriend Ollie a soft kiss.

She smiled and grabbed his hand. They began walking toward the school, hand in hand.

"Guess what?" she asked chipperly.

"What?" he prompted lightheartedly.

"I told Jess about Haley." She told him.

He looked at her surprised, as far as he knew; she didn't tell people about her mom. She had told him, but only because at the time, there hadn't really been much of a choice. Telling her friends though, he knew she had been a bit wary about that.

"How'd it go?" he asked

Ollie smiled, "Good. I stayed at Jess' last night. She wanted to know all about it." She rolled her eyes.

He laughed, "Do you think she'll keep it to herself?"

She shrugged, "I doubt it. But, now that Haley and dad are together, it'll probably get out pretty soon anyway."

"Well no one will hear it from me."

"Better not" she threatened jokingly, leaning in to kiss him again.

She couldn't get enough of him. They were only young, and had only been together for a short time, but Ollie felt such a connection to him. With the way she felt about Kaleb, after such a short time, she could in no way see how her parents had managed to be apart for so long. For now, she couldn't see ever ending things with Kaleb, but if she had learnt anything from her mom, it was that sometimes there's no choice. She just hoped nothing like that would happen to her and Kaleb.

"Whoa," called an approaching male voice behind them, as they locked lips.

They both whipped around. Seeing who it was, Ephraim, Kaleb adjusted his glasses nervously. It wasn't that Ephraim had ever been violent toward him, he had actually always seemed quite cool about him and Ollie, but Kaleb was still cautious. Over the years, Kaleb had had a fair amount of beatings. First, years ago, from the primary school bullies, who seemed to think he was the perfect puny little kid candidate to cough up lunch money, then later, from the lacrosse jocks at his old school who had seen him as the perfect puny teenager and even more recently, from his mother's boyfriend. When he came to Tree Hill, it had been to leave all that behind. Girlfriends over protective sort – of – brothers, put him a bit on edge.

Luckily though, when it came to Ephraim, Kaleb didn't need to worry.

"What is with you Scotts today?" Ephraim asked jokingly.

Ollie blushed, "What're you talking about Rai?"

He shrugged annoyingly.

Ollie rolled her eyes, "What do you mean?"

Ephraim grinned at Kaleb, "Well you know, you and Kaleb all over each other. Haley sneaking away down our hallway this morning. Nate being in bed so early last night."

Kaleb snickered, but Ollie still just looked confused.

They both smirked at her as the realization of what Ephraim had said dawned in her. Her expression went from one of incomprehension, to twist in amused disgust.

"Aww Ephraim," She groaned, burying her head in Kaleb's shoulder, "That's gross."

"I thought it's what you wanted." He teased.

"Yeah," she glared at Ephraim, "I didn't want to know about it though."

"Oh, well sorry." Ephraim said simply and abruptly, knowing all to well, that that answer would annoy her so much more than if he were to defend himself.

Immediately, she responded as he expected. The evil squint, and the 'I'm about to hit you face'. He shook his head, he knew her far too well.

Ephraim smirked again, "Come on Ollie, I'm sure you two can use it as collateral sometime."

Ollie whacked Ephraim softly on the arm, blushing furiously, as was Kaleb. It was pretty clear to both of them what Ephraim was implying, a topic, the couple hadn't even discussed yet.

Rai rolled his eyes at the two love birds squirming uncomfortably in front of him.


	41. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

Squeals of laughter and the fun noises of playfulness were wafting from the living room of Lucas and Peyton's house. From the kitchen, where Ollie was wiping mushy food from around her little Cousin Larry's mouth, she could hear them. She smiled, wondering how Kaleb, who was helping her babysit her two youngest cousins, had managed to get the moody 6 year old to take to him so quickly. She also found it pretty amusing that about half of the squeals seemed to be coming from him, not Penny.

"They're funny aren't they?" she cooed to Larry, who was seemingly very unimpressed that his sister was getting to play while he had to be cleaned.

"No." he moaned trying to wriggle out of the chair.

"Come on Larry, almost done." she told him to try and make him stop wriggling.

He just pouted.

Ollie finished wiping his face, and glanced at her watch. No wonder, he was getting grumpy, it was a bit after his bed time.

"Kaleb, I'm just going to put Larry to bed, are you alright with Penny?" she called, holding onto Larry's hand to lead him to bed and ensure the little boy didn't try make a wild escape from bedtime.

"Yeah Ok." Kaleb called back.

It took her about a quarter of an hour to even get Larry up the stairs after that, and then a further ten to get him into pajamas. Even once he was all snuggled up in bed, Ollie knew there was one more thing coming. Something Larry, without fail, asked her to do every time she tucked him in.

"Ollie?" he asked quietly. "Will you sing to me?"

She smiled down at him and ruffled his hair. Sure, he was naughty a lot, and took a bit of work, but he was still a sweet kid and she couldn't, _not_ sing for him.

"Sure buddy." She answered gently.

Thinking for a moment about what to sing, she decided on an old lullaby she had found years ago in one of Lucas' old battered poetry books. It had always stuck in her mind for some reason.

_Sway to and fro in the twilight gray,  
This is the ferry for Shadowtown;  
It always sails at the end of day,  
Just as the darkness is closing down._

Down through the jib and insulation above his head, the sound of a sweet beautiful voice wafted down to Kaleb. He thought at first, he was simply imagining it, hearing angels that weren't there in reality. From the stillness and silence coming from Penny, who was looking at him confused as to why he had suddenly become alert to the sounds upstairs, told him it wasn't in his mind.

"Hey Penny, do want to watch TV for a little while?" he asked.

She nodded and turned the TV onto cartoons, looking quite content.

Making sure that she would be ok for a while, Kaleb quietly headed up the stairs, mesmerized by the beautiful voice. It led him to an ajar door. Inside looked like a fairytale. A sandy haired little child wrapped up in rich red blankets, with the beautiful princess singing him to sleep.

Ollie really was a princess to him. Forget Cinderella, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty, they didn't even compare._  
_

_Rest, little head, on my shoulder ,so;  
A sleepy kiss is the only fare,  
Drifting away from the world we go,  
Baby and I in the rocking chair,  
See where the firelogs glow and spark  
Glitter the lights of the shadowland;  
The winter rain in the window, hark!  
Are ripples lapping upon its strand?_

If there was a word to describe her in that moment, what he had originally thought downstairs, angel that was it. She looked so serene, with her, back to natural honey colored hair tucked behind her ears, a whimsical look in her eyes and the sweet lullaby words flowing like they were made for her, from her slightly parted lips.

Before today, he'd never known she sang, she had never mentioned it to him. It made sense, her not speaking about it, considering everything with her mom. In fact, he was a little jealous of Larry at the current moment.

Not wanting to interrupt, and maybe embarrass her or cause her to stop, he crept forward as quietly he could until he was just inside the door. He sank down to sit against the wall on the carpet, his eyes not leaving her for a moment.

_There! where the mirror is glancing dim,  
A lake lies shimmering cool and still,  
Blossom sare waving above its brim,  
Those over there on the windowsill,  
Rock slow, more slow in the dusky light,  
Silently lower the anchor down!  
Dear little passenger, say "Good night"  
_

Kaleb didn't hear it, but her voice faltered as he sat down. Alas, she kept singing, even though Larry was pretty much out to it, she wouldn't take her chances. She glanced over at him a little shyly with a small smile to match. Ensuring not to wake up Larry with sudden movements, she softly padded over to Kaleb. Reaching down she pulled him up so that his face rested but inches from hers, then in a whisper sang the last line of the end of the lullaby._  
_

_We've reach'd the harbor of Shadowtown__._

His knees all but gave way. Silently, moving as stealthily as a cat in the night, she led him from the room and back downstairs. Checking in on her, Penny was still content watching cartoons.

They went into the kitchen, Kaleb still feeling a little weak, and Ollie turned the jug on.

Sinking into a barstool he told her, "I had no idea you could sing like that Ollie,"

She shrugged, "I don't really sing that much."

"Well you're really good," he laughed, "You could be famous one day."

She poured some milk into a mug, not meeting his eyes. Once, she would have jumped at that sort of praise, singing and playing for the world had been her dream, now, she wasn't so sure.

Noting her silence, Kaleb realized he might have stuck his foot in it big time. "Ollie, I'm so sorry, I forgot about…"

She interrupted him, smiling reassuringly, "It's Ok Kaleb. I don't blame fame or whatever for breaking my family up anymore. I did before though, that's probably why you've never heard me sing until now. It's just, I don't know if I could handle even having the chance to make the same mistakes my mom did. "

He nodded and quietly muttered, "You're amazing."

She didn't fully hear him and just went on getting the hot chocolate ready to send Penny off to bed with. "What?"

He cleared his throat, "I said you're amazing."

She smiled, blushing, without a clue how to respond to a compliment said so genuinely and intensely. "Thanks," she replied uncertainly.

"Don't be embarrassed," he told her, "It's true. I just wanted you to know."

That just made her blush even more, she squinted up at him, "You're pretty amazing as well."

Now it was his go to turn a little red. Before he could respond, she was behind him carrying the mug of chocolaty liquid to the lounge for Penny. As she passed him, she ran her fingers through his hair.

Even though he was sitting down, he felt his knees turn to jelly again.

As she gave Penny her drink, and sent her off upstairs for bed, with much less effort than it had taken with Larry, Kaleb sighed, a rested his head in his hands, attempting to steady his breathing before she came back.

He couldn't tell whether it was just him, or whether the signals Ollie had been giving him, had gotten a whole lot more sexual all of a sudden.

"You alright?" she asked coming up behind him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Somewhat shakily, he inhaled and quickly nodded, turning away from her slightly.

Feeling a little put out, she sat on the bar stool, that he was now facing toward.

"Both the kids are in bed, and Lucas and Peyton won't be home for a couple of hours." She pointed out quite suggestively.

Again, he just nodded, not trusting himself to look directly at her.

Sighing, she took it as rejection. Her shoulders slumped forward dejectedly. Earlier, she would have sworn that Kaleb was well into her, but now it seemed like he was more interested in the fruit bowl that lay on the bench he was looking at.

"Kaleb?" she asked, not sure whether he was listening.

"Yeah?" he swallowed.

"Why won't you look at me?" her voice was soft, with a hint of sadness.

"What?" he stammered, glancing at her panicked.

She looked at her hands, preparing herself for the answers to come, "It's just that, before you were saying how amazing I was, and now you can't seem to even look at me, even though I've been sending you signals all night. Do you just like me as a friend Kaleb?" She finished dejectedly "It's alright if you do."

He gulped, after all, he hadn't been imagining the signals, and like the idiot he felt he was, had completely rejected her. Knowing that maybe she didn't want him to be able to trust himself, he looked directly into her eyes.

"I don't ever want to be your friend Ollie."


	42. Chapter 41

**A/N: **Hello. Thanks to everyone who is still reading and reviewing. Some of you are asking for more Nathan, Haley and Brooke, so I'll try and work them in more for you. There is only going to be about 7 more chapters after this one, and I'm on holiday at the moment so they should go up pretty quick. I hope you enjoy the rest.

I'm not too sure how the maturity ratings work on here, but the first half of the chapter may not be suitable for younger readers.

**Chapter 41**

"_I don't ever want to be your friend Ollie." _He thought for a moment, and then told her how he really felt, "Every time I look at you though, I can hardly control myself. I don't want to scare you away by moving too quickly though._"_

She raised her eyebrows, overjoyed by what he had just admitted, "You know I'm no t easily scared, don't you?"

This time he was not going to miss the signal. "Yeah I do now."

She smirked, "'Bout time."

He laughed as he got up and followed her to the guest room. Usually Ollie stayed the night after watching the kids, and even though Luke, Peyton and Nathan knew Kaleb was helping her babysit, she doubted they had considered her not being alone tonight in the guest bed. Of course, Kaleb had to be home for his curfew, but they had the time being.

Ollie was nervous, not the type that you get before a speech in front of hundreds of people, but the sort of exhilarating nerves that you get as you step onto a roller coaster. From his eyes, she could tell he was feeling the same way.

They collapsed onto the bed simultaneously, their lips crashing together as they did so. Ollie hands were in his curly hair again and his were at her waist.

Both had seen movies, and read about this type of thing in books or magazines, but still neither really had any idea what they were doing. Awkwardly, Kaleb lifted his hands further up her back, this time inside her top. He waited for some kind of signal to stop, but none came, just her hot, soft tongue, lulling his own tongue into paradise.

Faltering as he came across her bra strap, she nodded slightly against him. The clasp was trickier than he had imagined it would be. His masculine fingers just couldn't seem to get the little loop off the tiny claw. Grunting, he rolled so that he was underneath her, with two hands now, he easily undid it.

Ollie smiled, and sat up, straddling him. As she pulled away she noticed he looked a bit put out. Laughing, she pulled his torso up toward her and tugged on the bottom of his t-shirt. Immediately, he realized what she wanted, and unbuttoned with hands shaking, both from excitement, and probably the mass of adrenaline currently flowing through him. Her hands followed his hands up as he unbuttoned, to her surprise, his stomach was hard and muscular, with abs clenched under her warm fingers. Maybe he wasn't quite the little nerdy boy everyone but she had thought he was.

With his shirt gone, Ollie's own disappeared fairly fast, along with her undone bra. As fascinated as her hands were with his bare chest and stomach, his were far more with her smooth white torso. He had never seen real life breasts before, but he was certain that Ollie's were perfection. The nipples responded to his touch, turning hard from his fingertips. Ollie moaned into his collarbone where she was roaming with her mouth. A moan of pleasure, not dislike.

They rolled back so that they were on their sides, Kaleb still taken with Ollie's breasts. He didn't even realize she had undone his pants, until they were around his knees, along with his boxers. His eyes turned into big round saucers as she brought one finger up to stroke him. It didn't take her all that long after that to get him hard.

Kaleb's little friend, suddenly stiffening under her hand though, caught her off guard a bit.

Rolling her unclothed body to the side of the bed, she watched his own naked body. He was the first boy she had seen fully naked, and the first boy to see her this way too. How, though, could she possibly know if she was ready for the next step?

"Kaleb?" she whispered huskily, drawing his eyes to her face, "Are we going to do this?"

"I don't know," he whispered, as uncertain as she was. "Do you want to?"

"I don't know."

They lay in silence for a few minutes just watching each other. Olllie noticed things about him that she had been too heated to see before. He had a long thin scar running from just under his left ribs to his left hip. It looked like a burn; she wondered if it was something his mom had done to him. She also noticed his little belly button which was an outie unlike her own innie.

She also looked into his eyes, which were looking at her with the same wonderment she felt looking at him.

"Kaleb?" she whispered again, once more bringing his eyes back to her face, "I think I'm in love with you."

He smiled the warmest smile she had ever seen someone give, "I think I'm in love with you too."

She smiled too, and made her decision, "Do you have a condom?"

* * *

Double dates. They had never really been Nathans style. But when Luke had asked himself and Haley to come help them scope out the competition of a new club in town, he couldn't exactly say no.

Much to Peyton's pleasure, He did have to say that he much preferred Tric to this place. He seemed a bit lost here. Back at Tric, when the girls were off dancing, as they were now, he would usually have a good chat with Owen, the bartender, who he had gotten to know quite well over the years. Here though, the bartender looked somewhat like a stoned 13 year old girl, who had lost a few items of clothing.

He was sitting on a barstool, watching Haley and Peyton dance with Luke. Sure, watching Haley dance wasn't exactly torture, but it was a bit awkward being the only sober person in a club full of people off their face drunk.

Peyton broke away from the mob of people dancing to the upbeat techno and wandered over to him, flushed and grinning.

"Hey Nate," she smiled, taking a seat next to him. "Having a good time?"

"Yeah alright," he smiled back, somewhat shocked by the steadiness of Peyton's voice.

"Does Haley know you don't drink Nathan?" she asked, surprising him a little.

He shook his head, "I haven't told her. I don't want her to feel like she shouldn't drink just because I don't. What about you though, you seem pretty sober yourself?"

Peyton winked, "Can't lose face in front of the competition." She whispered, peering around the club.

He laughed at his sister in laws antics.

"Well I'm going to back and dance," told him, "You should come join us."

"Yeah I might soon."

Chucking his empty soda can into a trash bin; he headed over to where Haley was, surrounded by men trying to dance with her. Pushing his way through to her, he put his hands on her hips, to let all the other guys know to back off.

"Nathan!" she practically shouted, quite drunkly, over the music, "I thought you weren't going to come and dance with me."

He chuckled, "Well I had too with all those men ogling you."

"They were just looking," she slurred, "Only you're allowed to touch."

She stumbled forward, the alcohol fully taking away her balance. He caught her in his arms.

"Come on, let's go sit down," he whispered gently, half leading, half carrying her to a chair.

"You always catch me" she quietly, forced out, sounding completely out of it.

"Wait here, Ok." He told her, even though he was fairly sure that even if she wanted to, moving would probably be impossible.

Nathan hurried over to where Peyton and Luke were still caught up in each other dancing.

In Peyton's ear, he whispered, "I think Haley's had enough, I'm going to take her home."

"Ok," she nodded, "Be safe Nate."

He smiled and nodded, fare welling the very drunk Lucas.

Back where he had left Haley, she was falling asleep, curled up in the chair. Gently, so not to scare her, he shook her shoulder until she aroused a little.

"I'm going to take you home now OK?"

"Mnno" she groaned as he began to lead her from the club. "I don't wanna go home."

"But you're tired, you cant sleep here." He told her gently.

"No," she complained, then struggled to put together a sentence, "I hate home. It's quiet and lonely. You're not at home." She trailed off, her head nodding again.

He looked down at her, if she were sober; she never would have admitted that.

"Come home with me then," he whispered into her hair as she stumbled along, "Come live with me."

He got no reply, just a sleepy, but happy smile.


	43. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

It had been 5 weeks. 5 weeks since the night Ollie gave her virginity to Kaleb and 5 weeks since Haley moved in, after being reminded that she had already agreed to. 7 weeks though, was the time blaring and screaming in Ollie's head. 7 weeks, when really it should have been 5 that stuck in her mind.

But no, it was 7 weeks.

7 weeks since her last period that is.

Then, 2 hours since she secretly bought a test at the pharmacy.

3 minutes since she had peed on the little white stick.

And, 1 second since the vulgar red plus sign began to taunt her.

Vehemently, Ollie smashed the stick to the wall with all the force she could manage in a throw. It simply bounced off the wall and clattered to the floor utterly unharmed, its damage not in the slightest satisfying enough for Ollie. Considering it had just told her that her life as she knew it was over.

How could she have been so stupid? That's all she wanted to know. Sex. With only a condom. Of course this had happened, she was a Scott. She remembered about 5 years ago, Peyton and Luke announced they were going to try for another child. Exactly 9 months and 1 day later, Larry Scott was welcomed into the world.

She laughed bitterly. Pregnant. At 15. In just a short few months, a mother. At that thought, she screamed, a mixture of anger and fear echoing around and around the white tiled walls of the bathroom. Within a second, hurried footsteps approached the closed door.

"Ollie, are you alright?" came Nathans panicked voice through the door.

Breath in, breath out. Calmly, plastering a fake, easy natural look onto her face, she picked up the test, slipped it into the plastic cylinder it came in then into her pocket, and opened the door.

"Yeah" she smiled, walking right past her dad into the living room, where Ephraim and Haley were, looking up at her questioningly.

Overwhelmed, she paused, and stuttered completely incomprehensibly for a few moments.

Nathan, who had entered behind her, and the other two in the room, looked at her like she had gone completely mad for a moment.

"Ollie?" Ephraim questioned.

Her mouth snapped shut; she just shook her head and looked directly at Haley. "Can we talk?" she asked, ultimately uncomfortable.

"Yeah sure," Haley agreed, but didn't move from where she was sitting.

There was a slight awkward silence. "Uh… Alone?"

"Oh right, sure." Haley stood finally understanding what Ollie wanted, and followed her.

As they passed, Nathan and Ephraim shared one confused, questioning, worried look.

Right back into the bathroom, Ollie went, firmly shutting the door after Haley. She didn't think either Nathan or Ephraim would listen in, but she kept her ear near the door for a few minutes anyway. All the while, Haley was getting more and more anxious as to what was going on. Certain, that neither of the males was listening, Ollie slid down the door, sitting in a ball against it and started to cry.

For a moment, Haley was frozen, searching her own mind for a reason for her daughter's seemingly spontaneous river of emotion. Realizing, that this pondering was probably of no help, what so ever to Ollie, she rushed into action, sliding down next to Ollie, wrapping an arm around her, and pulling her close.

"What's the matter sweetie?" she cooed gently, "Did you have fight with Kaleb? Or Jess?"

Ollie shook her head against Haley's shoulder, her own hand fumbling with the little test in her pocket. Haley's hand, softly, repetitively stroked her hair, she almost considered going to sleep, right there and then, in the hopes to escape from the waking nightmare. But all too well, she knew this particular boogey monster would still be there when she woke up.

Sniffling, she choked back her tears. "I slept with him." She confessed miserably.

"What?" Haley questioned, somewhat alarmed, "did he force you?"

Ollie sat up stiffly. Obviously Haley had completely misunderstood. The sex itself had been great. Well as good as it can be expected for two inexperienced virgins.

"No. I wanted to. But…" tears started to trickle again, so she burrowed into Haley's shoulder, "Don't tell dad." She muttered her voice cracking.

"That's what you're worried about? Your dad finding out?"

Ollie balled a fist around the test in her pocket.

"No!" she groaned tearfully, removing her fist from her pocket.

"What's that Olls?" Haley queried seeing the tip of something white poking from the closed fist, still reeling a bit from the 15 year old confessing to sex.

Ollie stared down at her hand for a second and then up into Haley's kind eyes, which were almost the mirror image of her own. Ever so slowly, Ollie unfurled her fingers, knowing there was no turning back now. "I'm pregnant."

Haley gasped, then immediately felt dreadful for doing so, realizing how hurtful it must have sounded to Ollie, yet, she was still speechless.

Tears started to dribble down Ollie's cheeks again, "I didn't mean to. The… the condom must have broke or something."

"I know sweetie, I know," Haley comforted, wondering what she could do. "Is that the only test you took?"

She nodded.

"Okay." Haley squeezed Ollie's shoulder, "They aren't always accurate you know?" she pointed out softly, in the hopes of giving Ollie the slightest little bit of unlikely hope to cling to.

Ollie raised her eyebrows skeptically.

"How about I take you to a doctor? It's the only way to know for sure."

"A doctor?" Ollie grimaced uncertainly, thinking of the sharp, no nonsense, white coated women who she had to reluctantly report to once a year for checkups

"Yeah. An obstetrician."

Ollie still looked uncertain, "I don't know."

Haley stood up, and looked down at Ollie before gently pulling her to her feet as well. "Ollie, I know this is hard, but if you are pregnant, you can't ignore it. The sooner you know for certain the better."

Hugging herself, Ollie nodded, knowing Haley did sort of have experience with this "Okay."

Exiting the bathroom, Haley called out to Nathan, "Nate, I'm just taking Ollie out for a bit. We'll be home tonight," and then quietly to Ollie, "Come on, lets go."

It didn't take very long to get to the clinic, but all the way, Haley could see Ollie getting steadily more nervous. As they pulled up outside, Ollie made one last attempt at escape, "I think you need an appointment for this place." She improvised.

"No you don't," Haley looked across at her daughter, "You alright?"

Ollie stared at her, like she was being an idiot.

"Right. Silly question. Let's go."

Reluctantly, Ollie followed her inside. Haley went straight up to the counter, Ollie though stayed near the exit and kept her gaze squarely on the floor.

She felt a touch on her shoulder, "You can go right in Ollie." Haley told her.

Ollie looked at her in alarm, "You're not coming?" she asked terrified.

"I will if you want me to."

Nodding in response, Ollie grabbed Haley's hand fearfully. Doctors were bad enough without the possible outcome of being pregnant.

The room they walked into was sterile and white, just like Ollie expected, but the face that greeted them was anything but. The woman had a bubbly grin, which was warm and kind, nothing like the grim faced doctors she was used to. As soon as the doctor saw Haley though, her eyes lit up to the max.

"Haley Scott?" she breathed in a slight southern accent.

Ollie grimaced from where she stood behind Haley, not noticing the usage of the name Scott as opposed to James. Figuring that the doctor would be a crazed fan.

"Dr Alcot." Haley greeted, equally as pleased.

"Wow," the Doctor shook her head, "It's got to be nearly 16 years since you were in here last."

Haley smiled, "Yeah," she nudged Ollie forward.

Dr Alcot gasped, "Baby Scott? Look at you all grown up," she gushed.

Ollie blushed, looking at the floor "Uh Hi. "

"Dr Alcot was my doctor when I was pregnant with you," Haley told her. Ollie just nodded, a little surprised.

Noticing the tension, Dr Ascot smiled at the two of them, offered them s seat and asked, "So what brings the two of you to see me?"

There was an awkward silence, broken only by Ollie letting loose a single sniffle.

Haley spoke for her, "We want to get some pregnancy tests done."

"Ok, Haley, just lie down on the bed, while I get set up."

"Oh no." Haley shook her head, "Not me."

Surprise flashed across the doctors warm face, but she quickly masked it, and gave Ollie the instructions gently.

"I just have to ask a few questions." The doctor warned.

On the bed, Ollie nodded.

"OK, when was the last time you had sexual intercourse?

"5 weeks."

"And you're last period?"

"7 weeks"

"Is it late often?"

"Never." She whispered out the final answer.

"Okay," the doctor nodded, "I'm going to rub this on your stomach Okay? It might be a bit cold, but it won't hurt."

Flinching, Ollie allowed the clear gel to be rubbed over her.

"Now we are going to see if there is any trace of an embryo."

At the bed side, Haley held firmly onto Ollie's trembling hand as the doctor searched, for the tiny speck on the monitor that, if present, would without a doubt, change her daughters life forever. The doctor spent a couple of minutes scrutinizing the screen and then looked up the two of their eagerly awaiting faces.

"I can't find an embryo anywhere Ollie," she told them, "So I don't think you are pregnant."

Relief flooded every tiny sense in Ollie's body. Not pregnant, the words were all she could ever have hoped to hear. She wouldn't have to tell her dad, or Kaleb. She wouldn't become 'that pregnant girl' at school. She could just be the normal teenager, with the normal boyfriends, and the normal family, just like she wanted. Maybe some day she would look forward to the doctor's answer being different, but for today, the answer she'd got was more perfect than anything.

The doctor continued, "It's likely that the test you purchased was faulty, and there are stress, or routine based reasons for your cycle to be running late. Nothing to worry about. I would suggest birth control pills though if you are considering being sexually active."

Too elated and relieved to talk, Haley spoke for Ollie. "Okay. Thank you so much Dr Alcot."

The doctor grinned, "No problem, it was good to see you both again anyway." She looked directly at Ollie. "Now, if you ever have any problems like this again, come and see me Ok?"

Ollie nodded thankfully, smiling to the doctor as they left. Once outside, a massive breath escaped her, like she had been holding it from the moment she had seen the little plus sign.

She blushed down at the floor, clutching the little packet of pills the doctor had given her,"Thanks for bringing me Haley."

Haley smiled, "Of course. I guess that was good to hear, huh?."

"Yeah I don't think I could have handled being pregnant, you know."

Haley nodded and focused on the road in front of her car.

"Um you're not going to tell dad about this are you? I mean the sex and birth control."

Haley smirked at Ollie's sheepish tone, "No, I won't for. Just promise me you'll be safer next time, and don't ever let anyone make you do anything you don't want to do. And if you ever need to talk, you can trust me."

"Ok, I promise mom." Ollie told her sincerely.

Smiling, Haley just drove, using all her mind her focus on the road nearly completely gone. Because, for the first time ever, her daughter had called her mom.


	44. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

Late spring sunlight, shone into the blinds of the quiet, Sunday morning suburbs of One Tree Hill. There was no doubt about it; summer was just around the corner. Finals, Basketball play offs, and then finally, 3 blissful months of vacation.

The bright rays, pierced through the wooden slats that concealed Nathans room from the outside world. They lingered on his eyelids, taunting his subconscious, calling to him to wake. His drowsy mind fought back valiantly, but to no avail. Little slits at first, his eyes blinked open in the brightness. He inhaled disorientated, the smell of something sweet gracing his nostrils. Licking his lips, he opened his eyes fully to let them land on the source of the aroma.

Haley, still asleep, was curled into him, her hair falling against the pillow, and her smooth aromatic neck just under his nose. A lazy smile curved onto his lips, as it did every morning when he awoke to her being the first thing he saw. Still, he reveled in the fact that she was here, back in his arms after all this time.

A sound brought an even bigger smile to his face. The shower down the hall was running, and over the patter of shooting water, drifted the melodic singing voice of his daughter, showing her amazing talents off to the showerhead, as in the room next door to the bathroom, Ephraim seemed to snore, perfectly in time with her singing.

Nathan chuckled lightly and turned his gaze down onto his sleeping wife. Slowly, the brightness getting to her as well, she began to stir to life. Unknowingly, she grabbed for him, as if checking he was really there.

"Hey," he whispered, kissing her on the nose.

She yawned, and stretched out of her ball shape, to look at him, "Hi,"

His arm settled instinctively around her once she seemed comfortable.

"Did you sleep well?" he ran his fingers gentler up and down her shoulder blades.

She nodded, "Did you?"

He smirked, "Of course I did. I always sleep well now you're here."

Grinning at his cheesiness, yet secretly loving it completely, she snuggled a bit closer to him.

"Hey listen." He told her quietly, and she became silent to hear what he was talking about.

Hearing Ollie's beautiful voice synchronized with Ephraim's snores brought an identical expression to her face, as Nathan had had himself when he had heard it.

"They make quite the pair don't they," she laughed.

"Yeah. They always have. They always reminded me of you and Luke.

She nodded, happy for anyone that was blessed with the type of bond that she shared with Lucas.

"I bet she'll tell Rai what you two did yesterday, so you can tell me." He mused.

"Nathan!" she hit his chest softly, he'd been asking about it frequently since she and Ollie arrived home from the Obstetrician yesterday, "Forget it. She was just going through some girl stuff. Nothing you need to know." She assured him, planting a kiss on him to deter him.

He smirked away from her, "What? Was it mother, daughter time?"

She laughed, "Something like that."

Nathan noticed a slight sad edge to her voice, "Her birthdays coming up." He told her, guessing that could be part of the reason.

"Yeah. Two weeks." She sighed, thinking of all the birthdays she had missed. Wondering if the occasion might tear open freshly healed wounds between her and Ollie.

"Do you wish you could do it over again?" he whispered.

"What do you think?"

"I think you did what you had to do."

She stroked his cheek, he was so sweet.

Nathan propped him self up onto an elbow, pecked her temple, and then stared down at her thoughtfully for a moment. "Would you ever want to do it again?"

"What do you mean?" she narrowed her eyes, "Leave?"

He shook his head, "No. Have another kid?"

Shuffling under the blankets, she looked away from him and shrugged. She had always wanted a big family, just like she'd had herself growing up. But now, could she really bring another child into the world after everything she put her first child through.

"Hales?" Nathan whispered against her back.

She shrugged. "Would you risk it? She whispered back.

"Yes." He answered bluntly. "There's not much of a risk though."

She laughed, "You're awfully sure of yourself aren't you Nate?"

"Well." He chuckled back. "I think if you tried a runner, Ollie would come at you with ropes, I'd come at you with tears and Ephraim would do that whole reverse guilty psychology thing that seems to works so well on you." He shrugged, "So Yeah. I'm pretty sure of myself."

She rolled her eyes. "Well in that case. Maybe we better start trying sometime."

Abruptly, she swung out of bed, taking the covers with her, and went into the connecting bathroom. Laughing at his protest, she pulled on the flannel pajamas that had been discarded the previous night in a fit of passion, and left Nathan alone in the bedroom, flashing him a cheeky grin on the way out.

"Hey." She greeted Ollie once in the kitchen.

"Morning." Ollie replied vacantly, her eyes focused on the entertainment section of the morning paper as she ate a bowl of cereal.

Haley poured herself a bowl and sat down too. Absentmindedly crunching at her food, her eyes flicked over the opposite side of the paper to what Ollie was reading. When she came to read the very top headline, she nearly upchucked.

'_**Haley James, Junior? Junior?' **_it read, with a picture of Ollie and Haley outside the Obstetrician office from the previous day. Haley wrenched it toward her, so she could read it causing Ollie to blink at her in surprise.

"Something interesting?" Ollie mused.

Gulping, Haley shook her head, as she took in the words on the page.

Ollie's curiosity climbed. "What is it?"

"You're not going to like this," Haley breathed, turning the paper around so that Ollie could see.

"Shit!" Ollie cursed, her eyes widening as she read the page. It fully detailed, quite possibly the worst time for the paparazzi to find out about Haley's secret family.

"Hey language." Nathan joked, coming into the room, oblivious to their tension.

Both Haley and Ollie stiffened simultaneously, staring at Nathan frozen. He chuckled uncomfortably. "What's going on?"

Trying to be discrete, Ollie tucked the page under the table, but her dad was too quick and got to it before it was completely concealed. He snatched it off her, and for the third time in the last few minutes, the article got scanned by Scott eyes.

Slamming it down on the table, he bellowed, "You're pregnant Ollie?"

She flinched, "No."

He made sure to keep his temper in check. "That's not what the article seems to say, and show." He gestured toward the picture.

Ollie felt a slight sweat rise to her body, "Um…They must have edited it or something. To make it into a big uh Haley James drama." She attempted, lying terribly.

Looking at her, and then Haley suspiciously, he asked, "And the truth?"

"Nate, she is telling the truth. She isn't pregnant." Haley assured him.

"Are you then?" he questioned, thinking of their earlier conversation. "Did the article just get it round the wrong way?"

Haley glanced at Ollie who shrugged helplessly. "No, I'm not pregnant either." She told him, "No one is."

He sat down at the counter, "Then what the hell is going on?"

Before anyone had a chance to answer, the front door of the house burst open. Crazed looking, with disheveled hair and wild eyes, Kaleb stumbled into the room.

Not even noticing Haley or Nathan in the room, his eyes locked onto Ollie terrified, "I came right here when I saw it." He spluttered, "Is it true?"

Uncomfortably, Ollie glanced from Kaleb to her dad and then to her mom. When Ollie's eye fell on to her, Haley could feel the silent need for advice, for help.

"Kaleb, why don't you sit down?" Haley suggested softly.

Kaleb flinched, as if, for the first time noticing He and Ollie weren't alone. He double flinched, when he saw Nathan's murderous glare. Eyes wide, he trembled and clumsily fell onto a stool.

There was a tense silence.

Ollie chuckled fakely, trying to break the tension. "So I guess you both want to know what's going on then."

They just stared at her, Kaleb looking like he was about to faint, and Nathan unable to keep a protective glint out of his eyes.

"Well," she began nervously seeing a little nod from Haley. "My period was a couple of weeks late, so I bought a home pregnancy test and it came out positive."

"You did have sex?" Nathan accused angrily wit his head in his hands, at the same time Kaleb blurted, "I'll marry you." Both males turned to glare at each other.

"Argh this is horrible!" Ollie groaned. "Just let me finish."

Grudgingly, they turned back to her.

"Anyway, we went to an obstetrician, and I'm not pregnant," she looked pointedly a Kaleb, who looked somewhat relieved. "It's all just a big mistake that it got photographed."

His face full of relief, and the wild look significantly faded, Kaleb pulled Ollie into his arms, not caring what her parents thought or did, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault that those people won't leave mom alone."

"Yeah, I know." He squeezed her, "Um about what I said before..."

"Don't worry about it. Thanks though." She said with a little laugh, squeezing him back, knowing that next time, if anything like this happened, she didn't have to be afraid of him finding out. The grunt of Nathan clearing his throat brought them back to reality.

The scared look popped back onto Kaleb's face, "I'll uh go. I lo…" he glanced sidelong at Nathan. "Bye."

Ollie turned reluctantly to Nathan. It was bad enough to have to face all the whispering kids at school, let alone the lecture her dad was surely about to give her. She stared at the table.

Nathan cleared his throat again, the ability to speak nearly escaping him, "Just be careful."

"That's all?" both Ollie and Haley looked shocked.

"Yes. Anymore would actually involve me thinking about... it. Something which a father should never have to do." He concluded dispairedly.

The two Scott girls just continued to stare at him shocked, as he wandered off toward the hearth with a box of matches, and the news page that started it all.


	45. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44**

"Oh my god, thats her. Apparently she's Haley James' illegitimate daughter or something."

"If I were her, I wouldn't show my face around here for years, I mean pregnant at 15."

"Hey, that's the chick that got knocked up by that geek isn't it?"

"Her own mom didn't even want her, what's she going to do with a baby."

"What a slut."

In the crowded cafeteria, Ollie's back stiffened, hearing every single word that the merciless teenagers were saying behind her. She wanted to turn and scream. Scream that they had no idea what they were talking about. Scream at them to butt out. Not that it would do any good. She would still be the abandoned pregnant girl they gossiped about, only, the word psycho would be thrown into the descriptive mix too.

With her, sat the few of her friends who had believed her instead of the article. Jess, Ephraim and Kaleb, were there, of course, and also a few of her more loyal friends. The whole table was tense and stiff, all the whispers making there way to each of their ears.

Jess growled angrily causing the silent table to look over at her, "I am going to kick the ass of the next person who says something bad about you Olls." She warned them angrily.

"Don't look now then." Their friend Mel suggested, gesturing to an old friend of Laurens, who was approaching the table.

Ollie groaned, Laurens friends were already horrible to her, for being part of the reason she was sent to boarding school. She did not need an encounter with one of them right now. Guess she didn't have too much of a choice though.

"Hi Olivia," Kayla smirked evilly when she reached the table.

Jess snarled at her warningly, letting her know to back off, or cheerleading practice later, would turn into more of a boxing practice. Kayla simply rolled her eyes and turned back to Ollie.

"I just wanted to give you this." She handed Ollie a packet of condoms and a card for an abortion clinic. It could almost have been meant as a nice gesture. But it wasn't, "I mean, the nice thing to do would be to kill it. Your own mom never loved you, what makes you think you could do any better?"

Bursting from her seat, Jess leapt for Kayla, with only Ephraim's arms grabbing her at the last minute holding her back. Commotion erupted at the promise of two cheerleaders brawling, taking full advantage of the noise, Ollie melted away into the crowd and disappeared away from the hellish day of school.

Once out of sight of the school, she just walked, wondering how people could be so cruel. Half the people, who had been dissing her, had never before even spoken a single word to her in their life. Nor did any of them know a thing about Kaleb, or Haley. None of them actually had any reason; they were cruel just because they could be.

Ollie's legs carried her someplace very familiar. Someplace safe. The tattered old nets, flowed in the gentle breeze, and the words of the prior generation's memory faintly contrasted against the pale concrete. But for, the whistle of the wind in the trees, and the steady swoosh of the river, there was silence as she lay down like a starfish in the middle of the river court.

Nothing bad ever happened here. Sure, she came here when she was sad, or angry, but never, had the river court been the place where the bad happened. It was the refuge, never the hell.

She closed her eyes, and tried to remember what it felt like to be sure nothing bad was coming. To not having to always be prepared for the consequences when something good happened. Of course there had always been consequences to everything, but it felt like now, she was more aware of them. Once upon a time, not even that long ago; she would have been willing to share everything about her relationship with Kaleb, with all of her friends, regardless of what they thought. Now though she kept all that private. People just didn't seem good anymore. Name's and people flashed through her head, Daunte, Dan, Lauren, Kayla, Rachel, Kaleb's mom, Ephraim's parents, all bad. All instilling the fear of consequences into her. She just wanted to feel free again, free of the memories of all those people. Free like she had playing ball with her dad as a kid, or when she had played on the stage at Tric, fine with knowing that if people didn't like her music then they didn't have to listen. Today though, it didn't matter whether they like what the article was saying, people would definitely listen to it anyway.

"What are you thinking about?" she heard.

She didn't move. Maybe the person would go away if they thought she was asleep or something.

"Olllliie." The person called quietly, nudging her with their toe.

She groaned and blinked. Whoever it was, obviously had no intention to leave her alone. The face, fuzzy at first came into focus. She frowned, "Duncan? What are you doing here?"

He lay down a couple of feet away from her on the court, "I came to check you're OK."

Shutting her eyes again, she sighed, "Thanks. I'm fine. I sort of want to be alone though."

"No you don't."

"What?"

"If you wanted to be alone you wouldn't come to the one place that just about everyone who has ever met you, knows you go to when something like this happens."

Silence fell between them as they both lay in the sun.

"I want to tell the truth. Even if people don't want to hear it. Fuck the consequences."

He raised his eyebrows at her confession.

"Can you please drive me somewhere?"

He stood and dusted himself off, before holding a hand out to her and helping her up. "Anywhere Scott."

* * *

"Tree Hill Press Center?" Duncan questioned when she asked him to pull over.

"Yeah" she breathed, fumbling nervously with the handle of the door, "Are you coming in?"

He shrugged, "I can wait here if you want."

"Yeah Ok Thanks." She looked up at the building, "This shouldn't take long."

Holding her head as high as she could, she stalked in, and right up to the desk.

"Hello dear. What can I do for you? Are you lost?" the little old lady at the counter asked, peering at Ollie through thick glasses.

Ollie cleared her throat, "No, I'd like to talk to, uh, Ms. Penning." She recalled the reporters name from the article.

"Oh, do you have an appointment?"

"No. I'm her niece." Ollie lied smoothly.

The old lady looked a bit unsure, "Well… I guess if you're family. Her rooms up the stairs and the first on the right."

Thanking the lady, Ollie climbed the stairs, all the way psyching herself out. She knocked.

"Come in." she heard a bored voice call.

Entering, and staring the reporter direct in the face, she said, "My name is Olivia Scott. We need to talk."

Intrigue replaced boredom on Debora Penning's face at the name. "Really?" she replied sort of mockingly. "And what would we have to talk about?"

"You are going to write an article for me."

Debora raised her eyebrows at the commanding kid. "Don't want your 15 minutes of fame to end do you?" she laughed snidely.

Ignoring her, Ollie continued. "In this article you are going to say that Haley has been married to her husband Nathan Scott for 17 years, she went on tour in the first place for the wellbeing of her family and always had the intention to come back, that there is no substantial evidence that we were at the clinic due to pregnancy, and that any attempts to infiltrate my families privacy without permission again will be handled by the police. Oh, and all this comes from a primary source who wished to remain unnamed."

Laughing, Debora rolled her eyes at the young girl, "Ok ok. Why would I ever write that?"

Ollie smirked, "Because my mom has access to lawyers you could never even afford in this life time. I'm a minor and I'm pretty sure you didn't have my parents' permission to publish my picture in your last article. I mean, I wouldn't want you to lose your job."

"Are you threatening me kid?"

"Yes, I am. If it's not published by the end of the week my lawyers will be in contact with you." She warned, briskly stalking from the room, secretly wondering whether Haley actually had access to high profile lawyers and hoping it wouldn't come to that.

"Have a nice day dear," the receptionist called after Ollie as she walked past.

Turning to her and smiling, Ollie said, "Thank you. I will. You too."

Waiting for her just where she had left him, was Duncan. He smiled warmly at his little brothers girlfriend, "Ready to go home Scott?"

She grinned, "Yeah, I am."

* * *

1:30. School wouldn't be out for a couple of hours, slumping down on the couch; Ollie closed her eyes, her heart still racing from the encounter with Debora Penning. On the outside, she had seemed solid and threatening, but she had been terrified the reporter wouldn't listen or would see through her lies.

A throat cleared above her, making her jump.

"Why aren't you in school?"


	46. Chapter 45

**Only two more chapters after this to go...**

**Chapter 45**

"_Why aren't you in school?"_

Ollie leapt at the person, nearly knocking them flying, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh I don't know what possible reasons I could have for coming to Tree Hill, North Carolina?" they laughed. "I did promise you at the airport remember?"

Rolling her eyes at her godmother, she pointed out, "Yeah but my birthdays not for two weeks Brooke."

Brooke shrugged seriously, "Ok I'll just go then. See you in a couple of weeks."

"What?" Ollie looked at Brooke confused and disappointed as she headed to leave.

Halfway to the door, Brooke turned to see Ollie's stricken face, "I'm kidding. Relax. I missed you all so I came back a little early. Chase will be here next week." She smirked, obviously having an ulterior motive. "And well i couldn't wait to know everything that has happened since I left. Now, I was going to wait until you all finished school, but you missing a few periods won't hurt. I sure missed more than a few and now I'm head of a multi million dollar company." Brooke laughed and Ollie relaxed knowing Brooke wouldn't force her back to school.

"Okay," Brook jumped up and down excitedly. "Go."

"Um...?" Ollie shrugged not sure where to begin. "Well mom and dad…"

"Mom? That's new."

"Yeah… anyway, they got together and are, uh, _quite_ happy." Ollie blushed uncomfortably.

Brooke looked at her for a second, "Oh god. Someone needs to tell those two they aren't 17 any more." She shuddered, "How would you even know that though?"

"You can thank your son for that."

"Ephraim caught them." She shuddered again, "My poor baby. Was he ok?"

Ollie laughed, "Yeah Brooke, Rai's fine."

"Thank god. Has he managed to land that friend of yours yet?"

"What?" Ollie's teenage need to know every little detail about her friends' love lives spun into action, "What friend?"

"The energetic little cheerleader." Brooke smiled proudly.

Just about falling off her seat from the shock of it she yelped, "Ephraim likes Jess?"

"Yeah Jess, that's it." Brooke smiled, oblivious to Ollie's shock. "He always used to follow her around trying to show off when you were kids, remember?."

"Hm," Ollie chuckled, getting over her shock realizing Brooke was right, "Last time I saw them, he had his arms around her waist to stop her fighting another cheerleader."

"Wouldn't have anything to do with a certain article would it?" she asked eagerly.

"Ahh, you lasted longer than I thought you would Brooke. I was sure the article would come before mom and dad."

Brooke groaned, "Just tell me."

"Well, I thought I might be pregnant so mom took me to a doctor. Some loser took a picture to the press. I just sorted it though."

"Sorted it huh?" Brooke raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah," Ollie smirked, "I went to the Tree Hill Press and made, well, a bit of a deal with the head reporter. The truth will be out soon."

"Aww, you didn't threaten her did you?" Ollie nodded.

Putting her hand over her heart, Brooke grinned, "Oh, I am so proud to call you my goddaughter. More to the point though, who is this boy that you thought, got you pregnant?"

"Uh his names Kaleb. He moved here to live with his dad just after you went back to New York."

"Was it good?"

"Brooke!" Ollie groaned embarrassed.

"What?" she questioned completely innocently.

Just glaring at her, Ollie waited for Brooke to give up on getting an answer.

"Okay fine. How are Luke and Peyt then?"

Ollie scrunched up her nose, "They painted their fence."

Looking at her like she had gone mad, Brooke grunted, "Huh?"

"Their white picket fence. They painted it blue."

Brooke shook her head and laughed, "Maybe they got sick of everyone else hogging all the drama. Decided to ditch the perfect look."

By painting their fence?" Ollie laughed "Well they can have as much drama as they want, as long as it leaves me alone for a little while."

* * *

The perfect gift. Nathan still had trouble figuring that out when it came to his teenage daughter. This year, he wanted it to be extra special. Not only because she was turning sixteen, but he knew she had had to deal with a lot the past year. He wanted her next year to start off on a more positive note.

Strolling through the mall, going from shop to shop, nothing was really catching his eye. Everything seemed so generic and boring. This gift had to be something Ollie would hold onto forever, if not physically, then at least the memory of it.

Every year, when any of the old gang or any of the kids had a major birthday, as well as the person doing their own individual thing with their friends, there was always an extended family gathering. The younger kids loved it and secretly, though they would never admit it, the older kids did too. It took a bit to organize, but I was worth it.

Nathan smiled remembering all the gatherings throughout the years. From Ollies first birthday, when just having left rehab, all his friends banded around him, on that day the tradition was made, to the most recent, Mouths daughter turning 5 and everyone heading up to Pittsburgh for the celebration.

Closing off his happy thoughts of memories, he commanded himself to focus clearly on his mission. With the Ravens finals coming up, this was his last chance at a day off before the intense training schedule he would be overseeing, so he had to get it done now.

"Hey Nate, sorry I'm running late," a breathless voice apologized.

Nathan sighed, "Thank god you're finally here."

"You've still got no ideas?"

He shook his head guiltily.

"Come on Nate. She's your daughter, you know her better than anyone."

He looked down at the woman he hoped would be his savior, "She's a girl, and a teenager."

Peyton laughed, "Ok, you're right, you need my help."

Nathan shrugged in agreement.

"Ok, looking back, what would you have gotten me when I was 16?"

"What?" he found her gift finding strategy a little strange, "umm, one of those retro but battered record players, and a couple of depressing records by people I'd never heard of."

Peyton pat him on the back, "See, I would have loved that. Just find something for Olls the same way."

"Yeah," he shrugged, "Its not that easy though."

"What, why not?"

"You know, Haley was sort of a geek, Brooke was girly cheerleader, Rachel was a slut, you were the depressed artist, it was easyto find something that fitted each of you."

"Ok ok," Peyton laughed at his interpretations of them all, "So give Ollie a category."

"Well she's smart, but still in with the jock and cheerleader group, she isn't girly, or slutty, or depressed. I hope. Argh I don't know."

She laughed again, "Come on, this is easier than you think, but it has to come from you. What's the one thing, which Ollie and I always had in common?"

Nathan thought about it for a moment and answered Peyton.

Peyton smiled, "There you go. Run with that, and I'm sure she'll remember it forever."

He nodded and grinned, "It's perfect."


	47. Chapter 46

**Epilogue will be up soon. Thanks for reading and reviewing, I hope you're enjoying it.**

**Chapter 46**

_Happy Birthday to you,  
Happy Birthday to you,_

Many unsynchronized, un harmonized voices rang out around her. She blushed furiously as the group of adults, and kids she had known forever sang to her. Sure, she felt a little old for the tradition, but that is exactly what it was, tradition, and not one she was going to be the one to break.

The previous night at the beach house, nearly half her school had turned up for her official party. Of course there were those who were not included, those who even after two weeks, and an article printed denying all claims, still gave her a hard time about being pregnant, even though she wasn't. All of her real friends had been there until the early hours of the morning, reigniting the parties of her parent's times in the very same beach house.

Today though, it was just family. Then again, the extended family was BIG. Mouth, Skills, Junk, Fergie, all were there with their wives and kids in tow. As were Brooke, Chase, Deb and the entire Tree Hill group, including Kaleb and Jess, who Ollie really did consider to be family anyway. Ollie had even met her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins today, for the first time. It was nice everyone seeing each other in one place, especially for the adults so, for that, Ollie could handle blushing a little as everyone watched her blow out candles.

_Happy Birthday Dear Ollie,  
Happy Birthday to you._

Shaking her head and laughing, she blew out the candles as everyone cheered. A horde of little kids rushed forward, eager for some sugary treats, moving out of their stampede, she headed for where Kaleb, Ephraim and Jess were with some of the older kids.

"OJ Scott!" she heard a male voice call, and turned, knowing it could only be Skillz.

She grinned, as did Skills, and the very large mouthed man beside him.

"Where'd you think you're going kid?" Skillz asked jokingly.

"To see Kaleb."

Skills tapped his chin, "Aww ay, I heard about him. Might have to go sort him out Mouth."

Ollie laughed, "Yeah, actually, I think you'll like him Mouth. He's over there." She pointed to Kaleb and Mouth wandered over. If he was trying to look threatening, he didn't really pull it off.

"Well, that ain't why I came over here. I actually been sent to do dis." He gently put his hand over her eyes so that she was blinded, and started to lead her somewhere.

"Skillz, let me go!" she shrieked, squirming against him.

"A'right, a'right." He let her go, "won't be as exciting though. Go in there." He pointed into the living room.

Shaking her head, amused by her sort-of- uncles still playful antics, she padded into the living room, wondering why she was being sent there when everyone was outside. Well, apparently not everyone, for in the room sat both her parents.

"So it was you two who ordered Skillz to kidnap me?" she accused jokingly.

Nathan laughed, "Well yeah, you do want your presents though don't you?"

"What? You mean there's more?" It seemed like she had already opened millions from lots of various people today.

"Well, actually, I need to go sort something out quickly," Nathan smiled down at Haley who had been pretty quiet all day, he knew that all of the guilt she still had about leaving was re piled up completely today. He also knew the two girls needed a little time alone. Ruffling Ollie's hair as he left, he received an amusing snarl in return, but could also tell Ollie had picked up on the serious vibe in the room.

Shuffling from foot to foot, in the silence, Ollie noticed it had gotten very awkward all of a sudden with just her and Haley there. An awkwardness she hadn't felt with her mom for months. She hated it. "So presents huh?" she joked lamely to break through the uncomfortable layer shrouding them.

Haley smiled gratefully, "Yeah, uh, can we just talk for a minute first?"

"Sure," Ollie sat down beside her. "What's up?"

Pulling her daughter gently into a hug, Haley told her, "You know I love you right?"

"Uh yeah?"

"Yes." Haley looked into her eyes, "Ollie, I want you to follow your dreams."

Ollie sighed, "Did you follow yours?"

Blinking, Haley hadn't been expecting that, "Uh, No, not for a long time anyway. Music wasn't really my dream, but that doesn't mean you should give up on it being yours."

"But I don't know if it is what I want anymore mom."

Haley laughed and shook her head, "But you don't need to know yet. But if you love something, you should never give it up."

Ollie nodded, "I guess."

"Good, and well, I figured that it might not work so well, if every time you want to play, you have to sneak around to get your hands on a guitar."

A sheepish grin rose to Ollie's face, "You know about that? I thought no one noticed."

"Yeah, you aren't really the quietist person," Haley chuckled. "But I thought instead of you using my old thing, well, Happy Birthday." She slid out a wrapped up, large package from behind the couch where it had been carefully hidden.

Ollie smiled, her jaw dropping as the paper tore off to reveal a guitar as she had expected. It was acoustic-electric, mostly brilliant red, with black at the center. "Mom, this is a Fender. These are really expensive." She breathed.

Haley blushed; she'd figured Ollie might think it was too much, "It's nothing. I mean, think of it as a late present for all the birthdays I missed."

"Thank you," Ollie hugged her tightly, bringing a true look of happiness, not just to Haley's face, but her eyes too.

Quietly listening from outside the door, the same look graced Nathans own face as he heard them. Pushing open the door, he snapped a picture of the perfect moment with the camera he had wrestled from Brooke. It was strange, for on the display screen, Nathan could see perfectly the only other picture he had of the mother and daughter in each others arms. The one from just after Ollie's birth. Only in this picture, the baby was all grown up, yet the same love shone from the mothers eyes.

A metal jingle rang from his hand, causing Ollies head to snap toward him, searching for the source of the sound.

"Oh my god! Are you kidding me? You got me a car, as well?" she practically yelped.

Nathan smirked at her expression, "Yeah I'm kidding," He laughed, "These are Ephraim's, just wanted to get your reaction when you saw them."

He handed them to her anyway, along with an envelope containing the brilliant idea Peyton had given him.

She looked at him confused and slipped the envelope open to pour the contents into her palm. Four slips of card paper came out. Her jaw dropped again, seeing the tickets for the Midsummer Indie Rock Fest, in New York.

Grinning down at her Nathan told her, "Ephraim's giving you control of his car, and you can take 3 people, anyone you want… exc…" he felt Haley's sharp elbow in his ribs, "Yeah uh anyone."

Ollie jumped up and hugged him, "Thank you so much dad." She glanced at Haley then back at Nathan, "You two are the best."

Practically skipping, she rushed outside, grabbing the unsuspecting Ephraim and Kaleb with an arm each and calling for Jessica to follow her inside. Just as Skillz had got her inside earlier, the same method worked perfectly for the two boys.

"Whats going o--," Ephraim began, until his jaw pretty much hit the floor, "its beautiful." he muttered, shaking off Ollie's grasp and sleepwalking, oblivious to all others in the room, toward the Fender.

Ignoring Ephraim's mysticism, Ollie showed the tickets to them. Jess, who had a similar reaction to Ollie's own when first seeing them, and started jumping with excitement. Kaleb though, who merely glanced at Nathan apprehensively, was shocked to receive a begrudging nod of approval.

Ephraim, just continued to stroke the guitar. Bending down to where he crouched, Ollie asked in his ear, "Do you wanna come?"

He grunted, "I think I'll stay here, you know, look after the Fender for you."

Ollie laughed, and whispered, "Two days, no parents, backseat, just you and Jess."

Snapping his eyes to her he whispered shocked, "How'd you…?"

She shrugged cheekily, knowing he was definitely, without a doubt, in for the road trip.

* * *

Ephraim's car was all packed up, stuffed with food, clothes and the four teenagers. Jess with Ephraim in the back, as promised, and Ollie driving with Kaleb up front.

From the sidewalk, Nathan watched as Ollie started the car, revving to get it to purr into life. Hearing it start, before they could pull away, he frantically tapped on the passenger window.

It opened and he leant in, "Don't drive over 40 miles an hour, or go near drugs, or strangers or alcohol." He gulped, "You know what? Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. I'll get you tickets again when you're older, or--."

Arms pulled him backward gently, "I think what he is trying to say is, be careful and have fun." Haley said, smiling into the car.

Ollie smiled at her mom from the drivers seat, and gave her dad a little wave, which he reluctantly returned, then, before Nathan lost it completely, smoothly pulled away from the curb.

His arms crossed tensely over his chest, Nathan watched them go, wondering if he was fit enough to chase them down and make them turn around. Haley wrapped her arm around his shoulders and let him lean into her.

"She'll be back in two days Nate." Haley squeezed him and he began to relax, "She'll be alright as well."

Nathan looked down into his wife's eyes, her soft brown orbs, and couldn't see any other possibility within them, other than what she had said to be true. With his arms securely around her, he lead her inside, parental worries for Ollie still lingering in his head, but all thoughts of chasing the car gone.

Two days. It really wasn't long at all. Only about 3 thousand minutes. That was nothing.


	48. Epilogue

**Hi, The last chapter was the real ending, this epilogue is more of a little glimpse into the future to show where the characters ended up. Thanks so much to everyone who has read and reviewed this fic!**

**Epilogue**

**About 6 years later:**

_And I know that I've seen you before  
In dark filled room  
hurry up come on drink it down  
Lets go home real soon  
And I'm Sorry if I though you were someone else  
In this smoked filled room  
hurry up drink, drink it down  
that's all I'm gonna say_

That it's all OK  
That's what they keep saying  
Work for tonight in today  
That's what they keeps saying  
All OK  
Look at who you are cause  
It will work out in the end.

The final notes of the final song flowed forth from her lips. The last chord of the last song rang forth from her fender. The ultimate uproar from the ultimate crowd erupted.

Looking around her, 22 year old Olivia Scott stared out into the crowd and shouted into the microphone, "We are The Bluebirds Beacon. Thank you New York."

Behind her, the rest of the band cheered along with the crowd as Ollie, the lead singer made their farewell from the stage. Along with her, Ephraim Davis on Drums, Jared Knolls and Becca Roy, some friends met in college, made up the hit rock band Bluebirds Beacon.

College was done, and now with the last show of the 3 month tour complete, summer nearly was too. Backstage, no words were shared between the four band mates, just a brief grin which said all that needed saying, 'that was awesome', and they then headed to their personal dressing rooms.

Catching her eye just before he disappeared, Ephraim sent her a wink. A wink showing how he had always known they would end up right here. She chuckled. The first night they officially performed together, at Tric when she was 15, maybe he had known it. Sometimes, Ollie thought her life changed that night, when she unknowingly opened for the woman who had come to be far more to her than simply the following act. But really, it hadn't been that night; it was the summer that followed in which her life changed.

The two days spent immersed, with her two best friends, and boyfriend in the music most of the world never got to experience, inspired her. From returning home that day, through college and until the very day, she had let her music be her. Not as job, as a love.

Smiling at the memories, she pushed open the door, and rested her guitar on a stand. Before, though, she even had a chance to glance around the room, arms engulfed her.

"I wasn't sure you'd make it." She grinned into the person clinging to them as tightly as humanly possible.

"I wouldn't miss your last show for anything."

Well, music was Ollie's love, but only one of them.

"I know."

Kaleb kissed her square on the mouth. Savoring every tiny movement, he had missed herafter the three months apart. Wrapping her up into his arms rightwhere she belonged again, he grinned down into her eyes, "I have a surprise for you."

"Don't go," she whispered as he let her go and turned to the door. For all the time she had yearned to see him, the reunion had been far to short for her liking. Grinning though, he rushed out of the room, only to appear moments later with a brown haired little boy in his arms.

Speechlessly, Ollie stared up at the adorable 3 year old, who looked every bit like his father. The little boy looked back shyly, unknowingly as Ollie held her breath. Had she become her mother? She wondered. Did her own family not recognize her?

"Ollie?" the little boy burbled, clinging to Kaleb's neck.

Ollie face cracked into a smile, happy tears threatening, "Anthony." She reached for her little brother, who, other than through emails,phone calls and photos, probably wouldn't know he had a sister. During summer in college, when she had always gone home to Tree Hill; he had just been a baby, too young to remember. And this summer, she hadn't been home yet. Anthony began to struggle against Kaleb and reach for his sister who immediately cuddled him into her arms.

"What are you doing here buddy?" she whispered, the joy evident in her quiet voice.

"Kaleb brought us." Anthony announced excitedly.

"Us?" she glanced at Kaleb questioningly. His smiling face full of love, he nodded toward the open door.

In the wonderment of seeing her little brother, she hadn't even noticed the couple standing in the open doorway. The tears really did break through now, as she saw her parents, both of them here together, still going strong, and more in love than ever.

Nathan had his arm around Haley's waist as if to help support the weight of her very pregnant belly. Both were smiling at their two children.

Wordlessly, Ollie embraced them, both at the same time, with Anthony still in her arms. It was a bit of an awkward position, but it didn't matter, not to Ollie, not to her family.

"I can't believe you're all here and I didn't even know." She sniffled happily.

Relieving her of Anthony, Nathan kissed her on the forehead and whispered, "We're so proud of you. You were amazing up there."

Ollie smiled thankfully, originally Nathan had begged her to return with Kaleb for the summer, but she had refused, so she could tour with the band.

"So, what next?" Haley asked her daughter, taking a seat to relieve the strain on her back.

Looking at her mom thoughtfully, Ollie rested a hand on Haley's stomach. As if in response to meeting its big sisterthe baby inside Haleykicked against her hand.

Ollie laughed. She glanced first at her mom, who looked so happy to be right where she was, then her dad with Anthony who looked equally as excited as their mom was happy, Kaleb who had been standing back to allow for the family reunion, and then finally, to her own left hand, and the glittering band on her finger which Kaleb had proposed with at the beginning of summer.

"I'm coming home." She announced finally.

Music was her dream. But only one of them. Right now,so many of theothers seemed so much better.


End file.
